


Girls Etiquette

by drkieranphd



Category: Batwoman (TV 2019), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempt at Humor, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Established Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hook-Up, Kara Danvers isn't Supergirl, Lena Luthor-centric, Lesbian Lena Luthor, Minor Samantha "Sam" Arias/Alex Danvers, Multiple Crossovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 50,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25590166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drkieranphd/pseuds/drkieranphd
Summary: Everyone knows about the Girls Etiquette. If you see a girl looking uncomfortable whilst being hit on, you'll get involved in order to save her. Lena knows this, which is why she tried to save a cute blonde girl who actually looks like she doesn't even need saving — as it turns out, she really doesn't.orWhere Lena saves Kara from being hit on… by her own boyfriend.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Kate Kane/Lena Luthor, Kate Kane/Sophie Moore/Julia Pennyworth/Reagan, Samantha "Sam" Arias/Alex Danvers, Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe
Comments: 91
Kudos: 468





	1. 1: i'm only arrogant in bed

**Author's Note:**

> Supergirl AU with crossover characters from Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman to insert more Queerness: I swear, it's gay gay. Angst and Fluff (and an attempt at Humour).
> 
> Hello, friends! This is my first fan fiction here and if you don't mind, I'm looking for some friends (because, voila! I don't have any!) so find me on twitter: @LGBTlTS — the l on TITS is an L.

Lena Luthor absolutely hated the gym. 

She had no choice, however, but to go anyway. Not to workout, no, but to meet up with one of her closest friends in Star City — Sara Lance who owned the Gym. She closed her umbrella, leaving it to its place before entering the establishment. Taking her coat off, she pushed past the Guard and entered the Gym itself. 

The sound of weights being tossed and humans panting like it was the last time they'd breathe has always terrified Lena. It was exactly why she hated going to the gym even though she didn't exactly hated exercising. If anything, she loved working out, in fact, she had a home Gym back when she still lived in Metropolis. Lena wasn't sure if it was the sound or the smell or the people itself — perhaps all of the above — that she hated. She allowed her eyes to scan the place, it eventually landing to Sara who was busy guiding some teenagers who looked very lost and had zero idea how to use the equipments. Lena shook her head, knowing that even though Sara looked patient, she knew deep down her friend was already losing it. 

Lena was about to make her way towards her friend when she heard some hissing next to the locker room. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, not really, but her attention was caught when she heard a man's voice from the women's locker room. On some usual circumstances, she wouldn't mind, but she was on her alert mode, ready to pry on anything. Her eyes met with Sara's for a while, and she waved, before taking off to the lockers. 

Her eyes narrowed when she saw a man leaning on one of the lockers, knowing exactly that they weren't allowed there. He was saying something to someone and so Lena slipped her head inside, seeing that a blonde woman was there, her expression blank as she shove some clothes on her gym bag. 

“You know what? You really should smile more,” the man said, now standing up to hover over the girl — not much, the girl was tall. “I bet your smile is nice.”

He tried to put an arm on her shoulder, but she yanked it away, glared at him, but still saying nothing.

“Oh come on!” the man huffed, a smile on his face but Lena knew he was annoyed. He reached out again, for her first this time. Once again, the woman yanked away. Lena could see him clench his jaw, “Just go out with me tonight, will you? I guarantee you it'll help you loosen up.”

At this point, Lena was itching to throw herself out there. She wasn't sure why exactly the girl wasn't saying anything, but she sure as hell knew that she looked uninterested. So without much thought, Lena straightened her skirt — still wearing her corporate attire — and entered the lockers. Her eyes eventually met with the blonde's and she smiled.

“Hey, babe, you ready to go?”

This has happened before, it was the usual girl etiquette performed whenever a stranger looked like she was being done wrong by a man — or absolutely anyone, for that manner. Lena has done this multiple times, ending up making friends in the process. She knew exactly what it felt to have some creepy person making you feel uncomfortable, and she knew how comforting it was to have someone there to save your ass. It was how she got her best friend, Sam, who saved her from an offender on a club all those years ago.

Lena's voice echoed to the four corners of the narrow room, one more pair of eyes eventually landing to her. Lena gave the woman a reassuring smile, taking notice on her panicked endeavor. She didn't look at the man — not yet — and just simply gave the woman a smile of encouragement.

“Uh, it's fine,” the girl said, the man finally keeping his hand to himself and focusing on Lena with narrowed eyes. “He's my boyfriend, but thanks.”

Lena believed that, it was kind of obvious by that reactions that the two knew each other. The small voice in her head was telling her to be embarrassed, but she wasn't. Instead of leaving already, Lena took a few steps forward, her eyes now on the man. “Hey, you shouldn't do that. Even with your own girlfriend.” 

She could feel the man's hot gaze, and for a moment she felt as though she was wasting her time, and that she was overstepping. But when the man smirked, a cocky one at that, and crossed his arms across his chest, Lena knew this man was a jerk. 

“Yeah? Do what exactly, sweetheart?”

Lena knew exactly what this man was trying to do. But Lena Luthor was in no way someone who could easily be intimidated by a man or by anyone, really. So then she took more steps forward, standing toe-to-toe with the man. With her chin up, the man was still towering over her. In normal circumstances, this would be a tiny scary for her. But no, she was in her best friend's building and she knew exactly that nothing could go wrong — with nothing, she meant, she wouldn't die or any of sorts. 

So with a sly smile, Lena muttered, “Shouldn't you be the one asking yourself that? Check yourself, maybe?”

Lena almost backed town when the man took an another step forward, almost. He was so close she could feel his hot gaze over her. But still, she didn't back down. Thankfully, a voice came from the door, and she knew exactly who that voice belonged to. 

“Lena?” the voice called, halting, “What is going on here? Mike? What are you doing in this room?”

The man backed down abruptly, placing both of his hands in his pockets as he stood right next to the girl. Lena watched her, taking notice of her blonde waves, looking like it was styled to perfection. She was looking on the floor, not meeting anyone's gaze. She was tall, not to mention lean, but she looked like she was trying her best to shrink herself, not to be seen literally. 

“I—I'm just helping Kara with her stuff,” he said, lied rather. He grabbed the girl — Kara's — bag and carried it himself. “Right, babe?”

Sara stepped next to Lena, giving her a questionable gaze before turning back to the couple. “Is that all?”

Lena could feel the tension between Kara and Mike, and she watched until Mike was actually grilling Kara, silently urging her to answer that question herself. 

“Yeah, that's all, Sara,” Kara said, her voice thick as she turned to Lena with a closed-lipped smile. Lena assumed it was a silent gratitude. She hoped it was a silent gratitude. She waited until Kara gave her an another reassuring smile before dropping it, allowing the two to escape the room before turning to Sara with raised eyebrows. 

“Are those two regulars here?” she asked, never seeing the duo before. 

“It's like, their first week or something,” Sara shrugged, “What was really happening? Mike, since the first time I met him, has always seemed to be an asshole to me.”

“Clearly,” Lena agreed, setting her bag down to one of the tables. “He literally was making her uncomfortable or something. I know it's none of my business, but I hate that. I had to interfere, can't have that happening, not on my watch at least.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Sara said seriously, but that demeanor left quickly, replaced by a grin. “Lena Luthor, always the righteous one. Kinda hot, if you ask me.”

“It's called being a decent human being, Sara,” Lena leaned on the wall, crossing her arms. “You should try it sometimes.”

“Oh, I am!” Sara said, wiggling her eyebrows. “I'm always decent, except of course in private, with Ava. If you know what I mean.”

Lena stared at her for a second before rolling her eyes and mocking disgust. “Gross.”

Sara was quick to throw a towel to her direction, sitting right on the table, raising one of her legs and hugging it to keep it steady. “So? What's up? Why are you visiting me now?”

She straightened her skirt again, walking away from the wall to stand closer to Sara. “Well, Kate is coming to town for a fight and she wants to see me.”

Her friend studied her for a moment, narrowing her eyes, before cracking into an another grin. “My, my, are you going back together, Luthor?”

“What? No!” Lena exclaimed, almost defensively. Rolling her eyes, she sat on the edge of the table, both of her feet still on the ground, not wanting to slide further just like Sara. “Didn't you tell me she's rather being more friendly with that Sophie chick? She's nice, I've always thought she's got hots for Kate.”

Sara hummed, facing Lena, now with both of her feet on the table. “Yeah, Ava told me some of the goss but we can't be so sure. And she is nice, aside from the murderous glances she used to send your way whenever you and Kate would perform some gross PDA.”

“You're the one to talk about PDAs huh, Lance?” Lena chuckled, “Anyway, she wants to see me or something. Said we needed to talk.”

“Wait, for a fight?” Sara asked, realisation on her voice. “Oh.”

“You knew she's coming?”

“No, but I knew there'll be a high-stake underground match,” Sara chuckled, “Ava's coming home, said Sophie's coming with her. Now I know why.”

Lena found herself grimacing. She wasn't jealous. Sure, she and Kate ended up badly, but that was a long time ago. Long enough for her to gather her maturity together and move the heck on. However, the thought of seeing Kate with someone else — let alone someone who she was once jealous on — wasn't exactly an ideal scenario either. 

She already had to deal with seeing Kate fight, which she hated in the past, by the way. Kate started underground fighting when they were dating. It was once something that Kate only did for the fun of it in Gotham, but then some business associates started to go to the matches, the stakes got off the charts, then became an actual business with fighters all over the country. An illegal business, that was. Lena remembered asking Kate to just try and legalize it, but Kate had shrugged it off, asking, “But Lena, where's the fun in that?”

“They have the nerve to bring that dirty match here in Star City huh,” Lena rolled her eyes, recollecting the memories from the last time that happened. There were some snitching, and the cops came, just after the fights. Lucky for them, really. Most of them had reputation to keep, and before Lena had only started building L-Corp's business in Star City. 

“You know how Kate is,” Sara laughed, “So?”

“So what?”

“You and Kate?”

Lena snorted, a loud one at that, that she could almost hear Lillian Luthor telling her to not do that because it was ‘unattractive’ for a woman, let alone a boss one. 

“We're just gonna talk,” Lena waved her hands, “Finally!”

She might have faked her enthusiasm on that last word, but only because she really wasn't sure how to feel. She hadn't seen Kate in almost a year, after their infamous breakup — or lack thereof. She knew she was over her but she couldn't shake off the anxiety of seeing her again. She had been busy with business that she didn't notice the time slipping through her fingers, now once her greatest dream was coming back to her life once more, this time in the form of a nightmare. 

“You know what?” Sara said, standing up. “You should get yourself a date, so then you won't be this miserable before you see her.”

Lena raised her eyebrows, reading to complain — because fuck it, she wasn't miserable! She felt amazing! Fantastic! Splendid! Marvelous! Thank you very much! — but her phone dinged. She was skeptical at first, but a smirk formed on her lips as she read the message. When she saw which name it was saved on, Lena's smirked grew bigger. She locked her phone hurriedly when she realised Sara was trying to read, but she's closed it quick enough for Sara to not pick up anything else aside from:

“Who the hell is Becky peach emojis?”

Lena laughed, standing up and biting her lips. “Well, seems like the date came earlier than expected.”

Sara's mouth opened, giving her an amused smile, “Booty call?”

Lena didn't answer, instead, she pecked Sara's cheek and swayed her hips involuntarily as she walked to the door. “See you, Lance!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, tell me what you think! You can reach me on twitter here: twitter.com/LGBTlTS
> 
> I don't have a beta reader so I'm to blame about the errors! Please, ignore them if you can. Lol. I mean, it's not like this fandom ain't used to errors and occasional bad writing. *wink wink!*
> 
> PS: The chapter titles are going to be Kehlani Lyrics because I'll do what I want.


	2. 1: i'm only arrogant in bed

The problem about enjoying yourself too much the night prior was the soreness that came the morning after. 

But this was the last of Lena's concerns, especially now that she couldn't find her fucking left shoe. She's almost flipped — in Sara's words — Becky peach emoji's penthouse upside down, but she couldn't find it. She sat on the couch, already hating how the day begun. She could feel how sore she was everywhere, but she couldn't give up, she had to find her shoe. 

When she heard some noise from the room, she cursed under her breath. If Lena had the Girls Etiquette, she also had a Booty Call Etiquette: One that involved leaving and going home before the other party woke up. She's always done this the first time she did this with —

“Lena?” Andrea's voice was hoarse probably from all the screaming and — Lena was a little irritated by how loud they both get, really. 

“Shit, sorry, I'd be gone but I can't find my shoe,” Lena said, standing up and seeing Andrea leaning on her bedroom's doorframe. She had a smirk on her face and Lena almost, just almost, wanted to run there and wipe it off of her face. “I'll be off your hair if you help me find it, Rojas.”

“That isn't what you called me last night,” Andrea said, pausing, before speaking again but this time with a huge grin, “Or was it earlier? God, how long did we—”

“Not the point,” Lena said, her eyes on the very interesting vase next to where Andrea was standing at. 

Lena has always been annoyed of Andrea. Well, maybe not always, but after their short-lived romance, at least. She promised to always put a red underline on Andrea's name, and she did. She did when Andrea moved to Star City a few months after she broke up with Kate. She did when Andrea tried to be friendly with her. However, she didn't when Andrea texted her one night, offering free drinks. That very night, Lena was tired and lonely and heartbroken and horny ‘and’ very, very gay. She couldn't say no. The rest was history. 

They both made sure it was just for sex, nothing else. And Lena was aware that she was staying true to that rule in her end, because there was just no way she would fall in love with Andrea Rojas again. 

“You realise you can just steal some of mine, right?” Andrea chuckled, retreating back to her room and Lena rolled her eyes, having thought of that but really, her concern was on her shoes. 

Not that she couldn't afford an another one, she was just concerned about how drunk could've she been that she probably lost a shoe on their way to Andrea's place. Oh God, she just couldn't imagine if there'd been some pictures of her circulating around. Once again, the voice of her Mother that she couldn't turn off started ringing in her head: “Lena! How careless could you be? A Drunk mess and lips locked with the Competition?”

Andrea was the CEO of Obsidian North, an another Tech Company that although wasn't as huge as L-Corp and didn't exactly create the same tech they did, her Mother still considered a competition. Not only this, Andrea also owned the CatCo Star City Branch, which reminded Lena:

“Rojas, if there's pictures of us from last night that'll be on your company, please eliminate them,” she said seriously when Andrea emerged again, with a pair of shoes that looked like would fit Lena perfectly. 

Andrea just raised her eyebrows at her, “I love it when you say please.”

“Jesus Christ,” Lena snatched the shoes from her, turning her back from her as she wore it. Lena assumed it was already seven in the morning, both of them had business to run, ones that couldn't run without them there. Not to mention, she really doesn't like Andrea. 

“You're welcome?” Andrea said when Lena walked towards the door without an another word. 

Rolling her eyes, she looked back to Andrea, plastering a fake smile she knew Andrea would realise as one before heading down. Andrea's place was just next to Catco, which would explain the crowded coffee shop across it. It was still early, but of course there were these punctual employees that deserved raise solely for that. It was a publishing company, after all, one that doesn't sleep. Lena used to question why would Andrea handle a company like that, until she realised it was good for publicity, especially now that she was just establishing Obsidian North in Star City.

Lena aligned herself within the queue, looking down at the shoes that in fact doesn't match the clothes she was wearing. She wasn't sure if Andrea had done it on purpose, but she made a mental note to blame her for it anyway. 

It wasn't long until Lena was giving her order and when she turned around to retreat towards the exit with her coffee on her hand, her shoulder bumping with the person who was on the queue next to her. It wasn't a huge force, not even enough to send either of them far nor was it enough for the coffee to spill. Still, Lena put on her best mean face and looked up, only to look down again, when she realised it was the girl from the Gym. 

What was her name? Kara?

Lena couldn't remember. 

‘Lie,’ she could remember very clearly. 

“I'm sorry,” Kara said, her eyes widening when she recognised Lena. She looked very disorganised, almost panicking with all the papers on her hands. “Oh, I know you.”

She had said that in such a monotonous voice that almost made Lena laugh, until the man behind Kara muttered something about holding the line. With that, Kara muttered an apology and smiled at Lena, telling her to wait up for her before proceeding to get her order. Lena wanted to just ditch her and walk towards the exit, but somehow she wanted to hear what the blonde had to say. She watched as Kara leaned towards the counter, her butt squeezing on her tight slacks. Lena found herself forcing he eyes to look away. 

God, why were straight girls so attractive?

She gave her a small smile when Kara finally got her order and the blonde was quick to return it, hers much bigger. Lena couldn't help but notice the difference of her endeavor today from yesterday, it was like she was more carefree now. It was both cute — because she really did have such a nice smile — and annoying — because it was fucking seven in the morning. Who the hell would be smiling at seven in the morning? Kara, apparently. And Lena, too, because she was useless.

They walked to the exit together and Lena took notice of the two frappes on Kara's hand, almost losing balance with all the other things she was holding. 

“Uhm, I just wanna say thanks, for yesterday,” Kara said when they reached outside. “It was really nice of you to do that. Don't worry, uhm, I'm not one of those girls who thinks you've pried, no. Uhm, though I think I came across as one when I didn't even say anything to you so… I'm sorry and thank you.”

Lena was aware she was staring. For one, those were the most beautiful blue eyes she's ever seen — please do not tell Sara she thought that, she would kill Lena — and two, Lena couldn't help but find her rambling somehow adorable. Usually, she was annoyed with people who couldn't get their point across in a coherent sentence, but maybe she was making an exception now. 

“No worries, love,” she said, waving her free hand off, her eyes landing to her clothes, and she realised she was still wearing the clothes Kara has seen her yesterday on. Her eyes widen, not that she wanted to make a good impression, but because she really thought she looked horrible now, not having seen herself in the mirror since she fucked Andrea. Clearing her throat, Lena met Kara's gaze again, “It's a protocol, girls etiquette, you know? Not a big deal. Although I'd still pry and tell you that your boyfriend looked like a dickhead.”

Kara snorted at that and Lena was almost sure she was trying not to laugh. Shaking her head, Kara smiled, “I'm Kara, by the way. Just in case it still isn't out there.”

Lena found herself smiling back — again — and resisting the urge to reach out and shake her hand because (1) she doesn't have a free one and (2) she knew she'd hold to it much longer than necessary. “Lena.”

“Well then, Lena,” Kara chuckled, now back to balancing herself on her one foot to another. “I have an interview to attend so… see you around?”

Lena didn't want to hold her off, but seeing as though Kara was ready to cross the street and probably do it so fast she'd get hit by a bus, Lena was almost sure where this interview was. “Wait, where's your interview?”

“Oh, right there!” Kara said and there she was, pointing to none other than Catco. 

If Lena had been sipping on her coffee, she knew she'd be spitting it all over her companion. Everyone say thank Goodness, she didn't! She cleared her throat, nodding absentmindedly, “You're a journalist?”

“Well, yeah,” Kara said, laughing, “But I'm not applying for a journalism job.”

Lena brought the coffee to her lips, sipping. “Yeah? What are you applying for, then?”

“Miss Andrea Rojas' assistant,” Kara said, too fast but Lena heard it correctly. “Wait, do you know her? You're Lena Luthor, right? Sorry, I hope it's not creepy that I know your last name even if—”

“No, I don't!” Lena said, cutting Kara off and thankfully, her theory of spitting her coffee wasn't true. She smiled again, sheepishly, talking quietly this time, “I don't know her personally.”

Yeah, except from the fact that she lost her virginity to her. Except from the fact that she dated her althroughout boarding school. Except from the fact that she was in a rather toxic no string attached relationship with her. Except from the fact that she was screaming her name in the evening and talking shit on her name the morning after. Yeah, Lena Luthor absolutely doesn't know Andrea Rojas. And Lena Luthor wasn't a goddamned Liar. 

Kara laughed, that laugh that sounded straight from a text. Literally, Lena was sure she heard a “Ha-Ha” sound, which was both amusing and well, she knew the blonde has somewhere else she'd rather be. 

“Well, good luck. See you around, Kara,” she said, turning around before Kara could say it back. She cursed under her breath, silently wishing for this day to be over already. 

Lena was just hoping for the best because now thar the day hasn't kicked off great, she knew the rest of the day would probably be awesome.

\- 

She was wrong. 

Oh, she was so wrong. 

Lena found herself sat across Sophie Moore herself with Sara beside her later that night. It wasn't ‘the’ visit yet, with Kate and all the other fighters. No, the two just happened to be around, being partners on the Gotham City Police Department and all that. 

She hadn't been thrilled when Sara called her during the afternoon, giving her an invite. She politely declined, but of course this was Sara Lance, so then she showed up at L-Corp and dragged Lena all across the City to meet up with the two. Now she was here, silently eating her food as the three conversed about things she couldn't care less about. Lena wasn't sure if she was thankful that Sara sat next to her, rather than sitting next to Ava and letting Sophie sitting beside her. Still, it was awkward either way. 

“You two are gonna go to the fight, right?” Ava said from across the table, looking directly at Lena. 

Instead of answering, Lena turned to Sara to do the talking. The blonde rolled her eyes, but answered for Lena anyway. 

She could feel Sophie watching her like a hawk, she always have. The girl towered over Lena, she was damn tall, and she always has intimidated her. When she first met her, she was already a badged officer, and she looked like she was ready to fight her just in case she'd hurt Kate. She never thought of it as a friendly gesture, no, she's always thought this girl has been hopelessly in love with her ex for ages. 

“Kate's gonna be really happy to see you, Lena,” Sophie said with a smile, and Lena wanted to roll her eyes and tell her to save all the pleasantries to herself. She was aware she didn't like her. 

She was about to respond when an another girl wearing GCPD's uniform came to their table, smiling to Ava and Sophie. Lena raised her eyebrows at Sara who shook her head, both of them communicating with each other through their facial expressions as the two woman across from them stood up. 

“Ladies, this is Julia, she's on our team,” Ava said, gesturing towards the new company. 

They exchanged pleasantries and Lena's eyes didn't leave Sophie and Julia's eye contact, even after Ava announced that they'd get going, having to report on Gotham City before the night ended. When Ava moved to give Lena a hug, Sophie and Julia gravitated towards each other and much to Lena's shock, they kissed. 

Like, kissed, ‘kissed.’

All she could do was share a look with Sara, both of them not understanding what was up because earlier during the dinner, it was clear that Sophie was avoiding other conversations about Kate because something was up. But clearly, Lena was missing something. 

“You gotta be kidding me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why am I including LOT and BW characters, you ask? It's because I'm tired of Lonely Lena, she needs friends! Lol.
> 
> Leave a kudos if you liked the chapter. Lots of love, friends. x


	3. 3: stop messing with those boys, get you a lady

Star City used to be quiet. For Lena, at least. 

She didn't know many people. Just her business associates and Sara. No one else; ‘Zero.’

But now, almost everyone was coming on the weekend and she wasn't sure what to expect. Let alone, she wasn't sure what to feel. It was like she was being suffocated and she couldn't find a way to escape, not even a single space to breathe. Or — try this — Lena Luthor was a fucking drama queen and she should get over herself.

It wasn't a big deal, it wasn't supposed to be. She wasn't sure why she was so caught up with everything when she was sure that it would all be fine, after all. Sure, there was the tension with Sophie. Sure, there was a missing information about that Julia character that even Sara couldn't get Ava to spill the gossip about. And sure, Lena was a little terrified about what would Kate be wanting to talk to her about now that Lena knew she was still single — well, probably. It wasn't like she was 'hoping' Kate was still single. No, that was ridiculous.

Lena was cutting her sad vegetables when her personal phone rang and she didn't have to look at the contact name to figure out who this was. There was only one person who was brave enough to call her — her, Lena Luthor, who absolutely hated phone calls — on her personal phone. No, it wasn't her devil incarnate Mother. No, it wasn't her billionaire brother. Yes, it was an another disaster character in her life (maybe a good one at that, doesn't mean that Lena couldn't make fun of her. Because news flash: She does whatever she wants.)

“Guess who's in town!”

Lena cringed, “No fucking way!”

She heard giggles from the other line, and she knew what was coming. “Ding Dong! Me! and Ruby, of course. God, sometimes I forget this kid exists.”

“God, not you too,” Lena said through the phone, flipping the vegetables she had on her bowl, drizzling it with a little bit of oil. 

“What? Is someone else as important as me coming?” Sam said from the other line and Lena could hear Ruby from the background, complaining about not having enough space on the room which lead Lena to assume that Sam had just landed in Star City and she was 'just' telling her. 

“No one,” Lena said abruptly, “Listen, are you doing something this weekend?”

This weekend was going to be tiring, for sure. Kate would arrive Friday night and they'd all get together then but Lena still had to keep her composure on because they wouldn't be having ‘the talk’ until they met just by themselves on Saturday noon. The match would be on Saturday night, and Lena could really use an another friend by her side — one that was loyal to her. Sara would be rather occupied with Ava, she knew this for sure. Heck, she knew Sara would probably throw her under the bus, always the one who ‘shipped’ her with Kate Kane.

“Actually,” Sam hummed, “I'm free tonight.”

“You literally just landed.”

“How do you know that?”

“What about Ruby?”

“Who?”

“Sam!”

Sam laughed from the other line and Lena couldn't help but miss banters like this with Sam. Ones she once found annoying but now it was full of nostalgia and she couldn't help but enjoy it. 

“Okay, okay,” Sam chuckled, “I brought a babysitter with us, don't worry.”

“A what?” Lena said in disbelief, rubbing her forehead as she placed her fork down. “Sam, Ruby is twelve-years-old.”

“Is she? When's her birthday again?”

“Oh my God,” Lena huffed. “I'll text you an address. They serve great drinks. I'm paying.”

“Of course you are! I won't pay for a freaking trust fund baby's overpriced drinks! How much do you spend in a night? Probably enough to enroll Ruby the entire effing year!” Sam laughed. “Would you mind if I brought a friend?”

“You have friends other than me?” Lena asked. “I'm hurt, Arias.”

“Oh, shut up,” Sam said, and Lena could picture her, with her phone, trying not to smile, completely forgetting about her daughter's existence. 

“Oh, shit!” Lena exclaimed when the realisation dawned on her. “Is it a friend, friend? Or are you getting laid again? How does it feel? After, you know, too much drought?”

“Lena!” Sam yelled and Lena heard some muffled voices in the background before it all steadied again. “You were on speaker phone! For goodness sake, Ruby heard you!”

With that, it was Lena's turn to smirk, “Who?”

-

Lena Luthor: The ability to enter clubs even without an I.D. 

Not that she left her I.D on purpose, it wasn't like she brought that thing with her everywhere. Okay, yes, she left the I.D on purpose, but only because Sam begged her and said: “Lena, remember when we were on college? They wouldn't allow us to get in because we forgot our cards, until you got angry and ask them to google you!”

Googling her wasn't a necessity tonight, not when Lena knew the owner of this club. Still, she wanted to humour Sam and left it. The bouncers allowed them inside, and a couple more securities after, they were inside the halfway packed bar. It was an exclusive one, only for those who could actually afford the drinks that Sam called overpriced, which in fact, were. 

“Where's this friend of yours?” Lena asked when they found some seats on the bar, further away from the people because news flash: Lena hated people. They'd already done the sappy ‘I miss you!’ monologues when they met on the parking lot, so now Lena and Sam were back to their usual banter and well, maybe some decency sometimes. 

“She'll be here soon, said her boss is pretty strict,” Sam said, laughing as they both grabbed their drinks. “She just got the job so she can't exactly leave early.”

“Hmm,” Lena hummed, “So we're celebrating?”

“Yeah, but not exactly,” Sam said, “She's kinda heartbroken and all that so I said I'd keep her company.”

“My, my,” Lena bumped her knees with hers, “Is this really just a friend?”

“Yes,” Sam answered, requesting for two shots to the bartender. “She's my ex's sister. Talking about exes, she'll be here on the weekend, exactly why I'm even here.”

“Ex? You mean—” Lena trailed off, pausing mid-sentence and staring at her shot when she realised what was up. “Oh, shit? Alex? That girl who fights with Kate?”

Sam cringed, bumping her glass with Lena's with zero enthusiasm. “That's the one.”

“Holy shit,” Lena said because holy shit, indeed. Now the weekend and the fight just got a lot more interesting (and more terrifying, for Lena atleast). She has never met Alex but she knew she's dated Sam since the latter moved to National City. However, they broke up a few months ago even before Lena could go and meet her. Still, Lena didn't miss the news from Sam when she told her Alex was actually leaving for Gotham to join that relationship-wrecker fighting promotion. And no, Lena doesn't hate that promotion. Why would she? Kate only chose that over her. Definitely not a big deal. Not at all.

“Sorry to break it to you, Luthor,” Sam just laughed at her when she took her shot quicker than necessary. “But I'm not visiting just for you. The kid whose name I forgot wanted to see her Aunt Alex and I can't say no.”

Lena furrowed her eyebrows, knowing that there was more to Sam agreeing to go here than just that, but said nothing. With this information, Lena knew that Sam wouldn't be much of a help on the weekend either. She was back to square one. With square one, she meant being dramatic alone and panicking ‘alone’.

“Sorry, I couldn't get away earlier,” someone said, rushing past her towards Sam, giving her a hug. 

If her theory about spitting coffee was wrong, her (lack of) theory about spitting her tequila was definitely accurate. Because there she was, spitting the previous shot she had all over the counter. Thankfully, it was dark. Thankfully, the bartender wasn't in front of her. Lena thought that girl was hot, if she had been looking for a hookup, she'd sure as hell hit her up. And thankfully, Sam and her companion didn't notice when she did so. 

Lena cleared her throat, her eyes falling down to the newest addition's bum. Oh, she would recognise that anywhere. 

When she looked up, Kara was already looking at her, but she didn't look shocked, not as much as Lena expected at least. 

“Lena, this is Kara Danvers,” Sam yelled over the music, “Kara, this is Lucifer.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, I'm sorry. Lilith — she's Lilith!”

“I swear to God—”

“See!” Sam yelled, pointing at Lena. “She's swearing G—”

“Can we please ignore she exists?” Lena asked Kara who was just looking at both of them with amusement. 

Kara laughed along with her, proceeding to take the seat next to her, putting her in a sandwich between Sam and Kara. With this, Sam's confusion grew, “Wait, you know each other?”

“Yeah, your friend saved me from my ex once,” Kara answered, just as she ordered her first drink. 

“Save? As in,” she turned to Lena, “As in Girls Etiquette save?”

“Why do you two call it like that?” Kara laughed, sipping on her drink slowly and Lena gulped, somehow thankful that the music was loud enough for that to fo unnoticed. 

“Well, I saved Lena too!” Sam bragged, nudging Lena. “Go on, tell her how much of a hero I am.”

“Was.”

“Whatever.”

So then Lena started telling the story of how she and Sam met. It was even the reason why she even always come to girls rescue in the first place. Girls Etiquette, as they called it. 

“The rules involved being best friends with the girl you saved right after,” Sam grinned, “Right, Beelzebub?”

The night was still young, and the hours passed smoothly after that. Lena found herself enjoying the company of the two, surprisingly, because she wasn't really one for going out and mingling with stranger(s). Kate has called her boring before and did all she could to drag Lena away from her lab and office when they were still dating. Still, Lena doesn't see the need for human interaction. Sure, she had friends whose company she enjoyed, but going out and meeting new people? Nope, not her thing. 

Until tonight, that was. 

Lena and Kara watched as Sam drunkenly dance with a girl who approached her an hour prior. Lena knew she was just having fun, she doesn't see the harm in it. If she does, well, then she'd drag Sam away and keep that hot blonde bombshell for herself. 

“Sam's extremely fun, isn't she?” 

Lena turned to her side, seeing Kara who was grinning at her. Too close, she thought. She could actually feel the blonde's breath which would usually bother her, considering the inevitable smell of beer on Kara's breath — first off, Lena was judging Kara, she'd never understand how people could like beer. Still, she found herself shivering that she shuddered on her seat. Her grip on her glass tightened, smiling, “Yeah, she's the world's biggest idiot.”

Kara chuckled, biting her lips as she did so. Lena was aware she was watching her, but she didn't care, she knew Kara was a lot more drunk than she was. 

“Exactly why my sister loved her like crazy,” Kara said, her tone gentle, “Some people are just not meant to stay together, eh?”

Lena's right eyebrow raised out of habit, remembering what Sam said about how Kara was heartbroken and all that, about how Kara said Lena saved her from her ‘ex’. She hasn't realised this until now, now that she remembered who exactly Kara was dating. 

“Speaking from experience?” Lena asked, slightly nudging the blonde, her tone light-hearted, for she doesn't want to overstep nor to pry. “Sam said you're newly single.”

Lena waited for Kara to be offended, to cringe, or to show any trace of annoyance, but it never came. Instead, she just shrugged, grinning at Lena. She leaned back, bringing the glass of beer to her lips and Lena cringed when the music changed to something way louder, making Kara speak louder when she did. “Yep, broke up with Mike. I'm sure you remember him.”

“Yeah, the asshat,” Lena said, her eyes widening because she didn't even think twice of saying it. When she looked back at Kara, she let out a breath and take pride of how she didn't offend her. 

“He wasn't always like that, you know,” Kara insisted, bumping her knees with Lena. “But it was a long time coming, I knew we'd fall out sooner or later.”

“Hmm,” Lena hummed, examining the blonde: The strands of hair dangling on the side of her face, how her hands come back and forth to fix her eyeglass that wasn't even placed messily, how her jaw flexes hard whenever she changed facial expressions. “What changed? I mean, why break up now?”

Lena was aware she shouldn't be asking, especially she didn't have any background information of the two. Like, how long they were together or where they even from. Lena assumed Kara was from National City, considering that was where Sam met Alex, and Kara too. 

“I mean, it isn't everyday that a really hot woman tells you your boyfriend ain't shit, in front of him,” Kara said, catching Lena off guard. 

She swallowed, and although she wasn't expecting that, she didn't allow herself to be fazed. Instead, she smirked, “You think I'm hot, huh?”

With that, Kara furrowed her eyebrows, her forehead crinkling. “Huh? Who said it was you?”

“Touché,” Lena said, watching as Kara turned around to ask for another beer. She interfered, asking for two tequila shots instead. Kara gave her a curious glance and she shrugged, “I'll pay.”

Kara didn't question it and took the shot when it came. She gestured at Lena, raising her shot glass, “What are we toasting for?”

Lena grabbed hers, leveling it with Kara's, squinting her eyes. “For dumping men. Society has progressed past the need for men.”

Kara laughed, like really ‘laughed’ and it soothed Lena inside. Whatever that was, Lena would deal with it later. They toast, taking the shot like it was nothing. Their eyes met afterwards, and Lena almost wanted to be scandalous and risk it all. Goddamn, when women look like ‘that’, you risk it all. That was one of the things she's learned as a desperate Lesbian who was aware she looked good. Because, sure, Lena was a lot of things but someone who was insecure about how she looked wasn't one of them. 

However, she found herself being intimidated and unsure, but not looking away. In fact, it had taken Sam drunkenly shaking them both off for them to realise they have been both been lost in their own thoughts, connected by the same eye contact. She shook the thought off, turning to Sam who was grinning like an idiot. 

“Guess who's getting laid tonight?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't even realise I was writing a superreigncorp scene until I got on with the banters! Lol. Keep the kudos coming, you kind, beautiful people.
> 
> Lots of love from me to you. x


	4. 4: i say i'm okay but i guess i'm a liar

Samantha Arias did not get laid that night. 

Neither did Lena, or Kara, for that matter. Lena ended up letting Sam crash on her place, knowing exactly how against she was on Ruby seeing her on her hangover phase. Kara, to Lena's shock, was staying at a hotel — a fact she learned when she insisted she'd give her a ride. 

This cemented the fact that the blonde wasn't from around there, or maybe she left wherever she used to live in, after the breakup. But Lena doesn't care, not really. She kicked Sam out after having a breakfast together the morning after, with a promise to see each other on friday night, because, well, both of them has exes troubles to deal with. 

Being the boring person that she was, Lena spent the entirety of Thursday on work, going home in an unreasonable time, and freaking out when she realised she doesn't have anything to wear tomorrow. ‘Lie,’ she was Lena Luthor, her wardrobe was almost as big as a fitness model's, with designer brands she couldn't care less about, but was given free stocks and collections anyway. The problem was: Lena Luthor wanted to look the best she could, and it was bothersome, because she shouldn't be stressing about anything. News Flash: She doesn't have anyone to impress. 

Surely, not her ex. And, surely, not that cute blonde woman who wore eyeglasses on daily basis but still managed to look incredibly hot (Not that she was against glasses, that was absurd and undeniably stupid) and if Lena remembered correctly, her name started with a K and ended with an A. Yep, definitely not trying to impress neither of those people. 

After an onslaught of panic, Lena finally managed to see one outfit that would fit on tomorrow's occasion. It wasn't supposed to be a big deal, they were only going out for drinks: All of Kate's fighters and the friends Lena was aware she was also friends with here in Star City. 

It was past one in the morning when Lena managed to do her nighttime routine and lay flat on her back on her bed. She was quick slide under the covers and hope for the best because, God, she needed to sleep or else it was either (1) she would look like shit which was a rarity or (2) she would treat everyone like shit which was a… well, it wasn't such an unusual event. Still, Lena would very much prefer if she was at her best behaviour tomorrow — or today, technically. 

It was the latter.

Thank ‘Goodness’ it was the latter option. 

Lena ended up not falling asleep until she could hear the birds chirping outside. And for the first time, she chose to be unprofessional and skip work until noon. It wasn't enough though, because Lena felt irritated with everyone and everything when she walked through the doors of L-Corp's Board Meeting — which by the way, consisted of nothing but trashy ideas and failed deadlines — and threatened to ‘fire’ some of them for incompetency. Perhaps she was rather too rude, especially considering everyone worked since the morning begun. But, hell, if anything, this was a proof that this God forsaken company couldn't run itself. It wouldn't even survive one ‘freaking’ day without her. 

Lena found herself smirking when she looked at herself in the mirror later that day. Perhaps, being an asshole made her way more hotter than she already was. Perhaps, the company being a mess without her made her so much more confident about herself. Or — hear this — perhaps Lena Luthor loved some good ego boost. It doesn't matter, because she knew she ‘deserved’ it.

All of this confidence seemed to fade away when Kate texted her that her entire team and crew had landed ‘and’ that she was looking forward for tonight. It made Lena's legs go weak and she still wasn't sure why. Maybe, just maybe, it was because she was someone who always hold on to what 'was', what used to be. Take Andrea, for example. She was sure she was completely over her, but yet she found herself coming back. Blame it on the lack of real romance in her life at the moment and Lena's constant need for attention and affection. Thank you very much. 

Moreover, all Lena had to do was to nudge this newfound arrogance and it was back again just as she was picking Sara up to the club that Kate rented just for all of them. Lena honked outside Sara's apartment, hard, knowing through the text she sent her that Sara was already at the lobby. 

Sara was rolling her eyes when she came to the view, hopping on the seat and fastening her seatbelt very quickly before Lena could complain. Next stop was Sam's, but of course, Sara wasn't going to make it any easier for Lena. 

“God, Luthor,” Sara began, “If I'm not dating Ava, I'd think you're hot.”

Lena snorted, “You're not allowed to even ‘think’ someone is hot just because you're dating Ava?”

She could see Sara shrugging through her periphery. “Yep, assassin's honour,” she said, doing this weird thing with her hands she always does — and take this: Sara Lance wasn't an assassin — before continuing, “What I mean, Miss CEO, is that you cleaned up pretty well. Anyone you wanna impress? Starts with the letter K, maybe?”

Lena hated her dirty mind for eventually thinking of Kara when Sara said that letter. She shook it off, knowing exactly that Sara meant Kate. 

“Why would I impress my ex? I can do better, Lance,” she said, not even trying to say something witty just because she was still flustered about thinking about a complete stranger like ‘that’.

“Better?” Sara questioned, and Lena gave her a look as she parked where she was supposed to pick Sam up. “Oh, you mean Becky peach emojis?”

“Who?” Lena asked and trailed off, both caught up by seeing Sam emerge from across the street and for realising who the hell Becky peach emojis was.

It was Andrea, but Lena had forgotten about that because she has this habit of changing her contact name. Like, right now, it was saved under “Sister A (Praying Emoji)”. Call her paranoid, but she really couldn't afford anyone to find out that she was fucking Andrea Rojas, of all people. Especially now that she was thinking about ending all ties with that woman.

Like a wise woman once said, “It was a long time coming.”

“Oh, you know who! The bootycall?” Sara said, but Lena ignored her, her eyes on Sam as she honked over and over to get her to walk faster. “Funny, because the last time you had a booty call, I'm pretty sure her name was Karen two pairs of eye emojis.”

That unwanted discussion was cut off when Sam entered the car, exchanging pleasantries with both Sara and Lena. She wasn't with Ruby yet, no, that meeting with Alex was scheduled on Sunday. However, Lena was aware Alex would be there tonight too, which would mean that— 

Oh, no. 

“Kara's gonna be there, you know,” Sam said, out of the blue, as though she could read Lena's mind which to be honest wasn't completely crazy at this point. 

“Who?” Sara asked. 

“Sam, stop pushing straight girls to me,” Lena said with an eye roll as she drove.

Sam had teased her about Kara after their night out and Lena had told her off, saying Kara was straight. To her disappointment, Sam confirmed this. However, she still argued with the sapphic's best argument: “And so is spaghetti until it's wet!”

Also, Lena was almost sure Kara flirted with her multiple times that night. She was a useless lesbian, but she wasn't completely useless. Or, once again, maybe she was full of shit and couldn't really differentiate the thin line between flirting and being friendly.

“Who?” Sara asked again and threw something at Lena who had been ignoring her questions since the booty call narrative. 

“Kara,” Sam repeated for Sara, “Since when is Lena Luthor intimidated by straight girls?”

“Since forever!” Sara answered, “Little Miss Bottom, 'amirite'?”

Sam and Sara's laughter filled her car after high-fiving one another and to be honest, she contemplated to just throw both of them on the sidewalk and head home, like tonight didn't exist. But that'd be pretty mean, even for her. 

All she could do, for the sake of her pride, was to shake her head and mutter, “Bottomphobia.”

“Wait, is this the same Kara?” Sara asked, her laugher suddenly gone, her eyes wide at Lena as she parked — badly, that was — her car. 

Lena chose not to answer, but Sam was pushing it. “You know a Kara?”

“Yeah, she goes to my gym with her boyfriend—”

“Mike?”

“That's the one!”

“Oh my God!” Sara laughed once more, “For the record, I don't think that girl is straight. Have you seen her?” she continuid, pausing, “Okay, wait, did she break up with Mike? I haven't seen her around since.”

Lena still proceeded to ignore them and continued to grab her things and unbuckle her seatbelt. Thankfully, the conversation has driven her mind off of her concerns about Kate but of course, the two still had to gossip about it. 

“She did!” Sam said, more to Sara than to Lena as they all exit the car. “In fact, I don't know why she's still staying here.”

That got Lena's attention, she snapped her head back to Sam's direction. “What do you mean? Isn't she based here?”

“No, she lives in NatCit,” Sam said with a wave, the three of them walking side by side. “She moved here because Mike had a job offer or something.”

“Oh,” was Lena's only response, and she could feel herself turning out from the conversation, especially after she caught sight of Ava, Sophie, and Julie on the entrance. 

Sara was quick to run to her girlfriend, capturing her lips with hers, then turning the contact into a hug. Lena couldn't help but feel really happy for the two. She met Sara when she was already with Ava, but Lena was sure that Ava was a huge part of Sara's growth and happiness, considering all the stories she's heard of Sara's past. 

Sam was introduced to Sophie and Julie briefly and Lena just shrugged off all the awkwardness she felt with those two. Sam was sending curious glances to her, the six of them walking by pairs and Sam took this chance to walk behind, lean downing down to Lena and asking, “I thought Kane was dating that Sophie chick.”

“You and me both,” Lena whispered, clinging her arms with Sam's as they walked towards the VIP Lounge. 

Lena's anxiety seemed to wear off when they finally reached the space, eventually being greeted by Charlie and Zari. The former being the manager of the club and would also be performing tonight with her band. They proceeded and Sara greeted everyone with so much enthusiasm even though Lena was aware she didn't even know half of them. 

It didn't take long until Lena's gaze fell to a group of people not so far from them, and of course, Sam picked up on this and lead their entire group to their direction. There was Kara, her hair down and she wasn't wearing her glasses. She was already smiling at Lena before they could even say anything else. 

Apparently, Alex has invited their entire National City friend group and Sam was already out of Lena's grip in due time, greeting everyone with hugs. Thankfully for Lena's antisocial self, Kara was quick to slide to her side as the introductions were being made. 

She wasn't familiar with any of them, aside from James Olsen who once worked as a journalist in Metropolis. Other than that, the others were some new faces. Nia was the most enthusiastic one and Lena decided she wasn't half bad. The rest weren't either, especially the Lucy chick who was already vibing with Sara and the others. They stayed there, chatting, until Sam stood up and left with Nia to get more drinks. 

Lena couldn't help but loosen up more, her eyes meeting with Kara's occasionally. “So,” she started, “Where's your sister? I know Sam is thrilled.”

Kara chuckled, that one you make when you were nervous about something and Lena knew this wasn't a good sign. “Yeah, about that—”

“Alex!” Winn, one of the NatCit crew, exclaimed. Lena turned to where Winn pointed at, eventually spotting who she guessed was Alex, an another woman on her side, their hands linked and it didn't take a genius to figure out that that wasn't exactly a friendly hold. 

As the others greeted one another and introduced each other, Lena turned to Kara, who looked like she was wasn't that thrilled to see her sister. “Girlfriend? Does Sam know?”

Kara shook her head, and the way she leaned in to speak, alcohol on her breath, was enough for Lena to be thrown back to the first time they were this close to each other. “No. Even I didn't know, Alex just introduced us earlier at the Airport.”

Lena didn't have time to react, because then it was her turn to be introduced. Again, it wasn't half bad. To be honest, she even thought Alex was cool, radiating such a vibe that Kara was lacking — like they were the complete opposite of one another. Her girlfriend, however, was incredible. Lena almost felt bad for taking a liking on her. She learned that her name was Kelly, also a National City Native, but was working on Gotham. 

It was all going well, until Sam was coming back with Nia, and Lena almost wanted to look away because of the awkwardness. For all Lena knew, Sam was still holding on to a little bit of hope that they'd get back together. This must be really hard, and certainly wasn't what Sam was expecting. 

Speaking of unexpected, Lena didn't get the opportunity to engage herself on other people's drama any longer when a voice all too familiar for her called out. She turned around and there she was. 

“God, I missed you!” Beth muffled, engaging Lena in a hug. 

Usually, Lena would be more enthusiastic because truthfully, Beth was one of Lena's favourite friends. But of course, she couldn't help but be disappointed when she literally saw Kate just behind Beth but walked past the two of them like she didn't even see her when she was hugging Beth. 

Lena swallowed her pride and beamed at Beth when they broke the hug, both of them turning back to the group and just when Lena thought this night wouldn't get any more weirder, she saw Kate kiss someone in the mouth. 

No, not just someone. But two different people.

Kate Kane kissed both Sophie Moore and Julia Pennyworth in the mouth, simultaneously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of Supercorp interaction. But don't worry, it's coming. It's just really necessary to do some build up because then the next ones will be really fast-paced.
> 
> The number of kudos are boosting my Ego, by the way. Because the same as Lena, I'm pretty arrogant myself. *Eyes emojis*


	5. 5: said she wanna try it, ain't tryna hide it

Lena wasn't going to lie, she was happy for Kate. 

And, well, for ‘all’ of them. 

“So, Lena,” Kate has approached her and the nerves of Kate being close to her again was nothing compared to the initial shock of what she saw just a few minutes ago. “I'm assuming you've met my girlfriends?”

There it was: Plural. It was funny, really, because Lena wasn't against polyamory. She had no problem with it, only she wouldn't do it. She has always believed that there'd only be one person she'd spend her life with. Lena was a loner, but she was also ‘really’ sappy and incredibly hopeless romantic. She just couldn't see herself being in one. Then again, she also never thought she'd do casual sex either (especially not with an ex) but there she was. 

Kate, however, had always been against it. But hey, it was probably her in denial stage, knowing deep inside she wanted to be in one. 

“I have,” Lena said, not letting her chill composure shatter. “I also noticed they're both cooler than you.”

Kate had laughed, and so did the two girls, and Kara, who was still on Lena's side. That was the only awkward part so far, for her personally, but she could see at the corner of her eye how uncomfortable Sam looked, sitting across from Alex and Kelly. She wanted to come to her rescue, but she was rather having the time of her life whilst being squeezed between Kara and Beth, especially when Kara's forearm brushed with hers every now and then. 

She also didn't miss how Kara gave her a glance every now and then, too. And even though they weren't really talking directly to each other, she could feel the Blonde listening to the stories she was telling Beth, or anyone else from the group who asked questions about her. She did the same for Kara, finding out that she, in fact, only moved in Star City because of her boyfriend turned ex. 

It was obvious that her friends, including her sister, didn't approve of Mike either, nor did they approve of Kara staying in the City after everything. However, Kara said she wanted to stay and that she liked her job, which somehow made Lena choke on her the drink, remembering where she worked and just ‘who’ Kara directly worked for. 

She recovered pretty nicely though, making excuses and trying not to focus too much on anything aside from actually having ‘fun’. It was going well — all until the conversation turned to the throuple. 

“Throuple, huh?” It was Sam who asked, and of course it had to be Sam. Lena sent her a look, a warning one, but her friend didn't even give her a glance. 

“Well, yeah,” Sophie said, glancing at Lena for a short while before turning back to Julia. 

“Actually, we're looking for someone else that, you know, probably wants to explore,” Julia said, wiggling her eyebrows to her girlfriend. 

It all happened in slow motion, and Lena felt her breath stuck on her throat as three necks snapped to her direction. She knew what was coming, but still she couldn't help but let out a disbelieving laugh when Kate had asked ‘the question.’

“We're thinking about Lena, really.”

The statement was light-hearted, almost like she didn't mean it. But that look — oh, that look — was so painfully familiar to Lena that she knew Kate was being serious. 

Everyone picked up on the awkward tension after Kate said that, and even Kate herself looked sorry for even saying it out loud, let alone saying it in front of everyone. 

“She's just joking!” Julia exclaimed, her tone so light and fun, grinning to everyone. 

The conversation progressed after that, with Kate leaving their table to mingle with the others. The subject must have gone out of her sight, but the conversation she brought earlier wasn't. Lena found herself thinking about Kate's audacity to even said that, considering how their breakup had gone — it was the furthest thing from being pretty, and right now Lena was having different ideas of Kate's ‘actual’ reason on breaking up with her. Was she ready to know? No, and thankfully, that conversation wouldn't be until tomorrow afternoon. 

Lena excused herself and went to the bar to grab her own drinks, downing two shots simultaneously. 

But, of course, she just couldn't catch a break. 

“Hey, sorry for the bad joke,” she heard Kate said from beside her and all she could do was to throw some daggers through her looks. 

She was aware they've been acting civil since earlier, but now that they were alone, she needed to catch a break and drop the act. “Save the sorry's for tomorrow, Katherine.”

“Ouch,” Kate huffed, putting her hand against her chest which made Lena roll her eyes. “You know what? I get it, I deserve this treatment.”

Lena gave her a look, in her mind all she could think of was: Just get the fuck away from me. 

“I'll leave you to it,” Kate said, standing up and mocking a salute. “See you at lunch.”

Just when she thought peace would start to catch up with her, her phone dinged. She looked at it, seeing what she was expecting. But a booty call was the furthest thing in her mind, so then she locked her phone, still not fast enough before Sara appeared next to her. 

“Who the hell is Sister A?”

“Have I told you how much I hate when you read things from my phone?”

“About a million times,” Sara answered, then turning to the bartender to ask for her drinks, Ava following her, eventually hugging her from behind, trailing kisses on her neck. But unsurprisingly, even that wasn't enough for Sara to drop the former topic. “Exactly why I do it all the time.”

“Get a hobby, Lance,” she said, flicking her the finger and the couple laughed. 

“Her favourite hobby is to piss you off, Lena,” Ava said, winking at Lena as she grabbed the first tray of drinks to give to their other friends, leaving Lena alone with Sara. 

Lena watched as Sara's eyes continued to follow Ava's retreating figure, one that was full of love and adoration, even such light-hearted one during such a drunken state. Unlike earlier, Lena felt a hint of jealousy, or longing maybe. Perhaps it was her heart's way of telling her to — for fuck's sake — try and go out there, experience ‘real’ romance and be the sappy romantic that she really was. 

“Considering about joining that throuple?”

Lena let out a sound of disgust, she knew Sara was just joking, it was how she was. Still, Lena muttered, “Fuck off.”

Sara laughed drunkenly, patting Lena on the shoulder grabbing the last tray and retreating back. At last, Lena was alone again for the time being, drinking on her glass every now and then as she continued to be her little sad self. 

Until…

“Thinking about Kate's offer?”

She didn't waste any time and already showed her middle finger even before Kara could make it to the seat next to hers. She knew Kara was still practically a stranger, but she's had enough alcohol to stop caring about pleasantries and trying to be nice. She grunted, looking at Kara in disbelief. “God, not you too.”

Kara chuckled, a bottle of beer on her hand as she chugged it, like chugged it all the way down that made Lena go ‘Damn.’ She hated beer but seeing Kara drink it like ‘that’ doesn't seem so bad — for her sight, at least. 

“Bad breakup?”

“Pretty much,” she answered, pointing to Kara's now empty bottle of beer. “You too, I suppose.”

“Yeah, you called it,” Kara chuckled, “Breakups sucks. But to be honest, I didn't peg Kate as your type.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Not Sophie, either.”

“What do you think is my type then?”

“I don't know, Julia, maybe?” Kara said, almost like a challenge. 

Lena thought of it, because she really doesn't have a type, she literally just goes with anyone who'd show her a genuine type of attention. It was sad, really, always settling for the bare minimum. But it wasn't the point, it wasn't exactly the direction Kara seemed to want to take this conversation. Seeing how Kara put it, she was saying that Lena liked blondes more. Which, in some sapphic's perfect world, meant that Kara was trying to—

“Glad to know you're not interested in joining their relationship,” Kara said, almost too quickly.

Lena squinted her eyes, her fingers slowly running over the glass on her hand, contemplating whether to get an another drink or not. “Hmm, why are you interested about what interests me, anyway?”

Kara shrugged, gesturing for the woman behind the bars to give her an another drink. It was an open bar, after all. 

“I don't know,” Kara said, watching as the bar tender move, before finally turning back to Lena, something else in her eyes. “Just checking out the competition.”

Lena could swear her heart skipped a beat. And no, it wasn't about the alcohol she's been consuming for hours. It was about something else entirely. “And that means what now?”

“That means that the slate is clear.”

She was being careful with her words, calculating Kara's every move as the latter thanked the bartender for her drink. Lena glanced down to her empty glass, pushing it away, deciding it was better if she does ‘this’ slightly sober. So then she leaned closer to Kara, a smirk on her face. 

“Careful there, Danvers. I might think you're trying to flirt with me.”

Kara leveled her gaze, one eyebrow raised in challenge. “And what if I am?”

She held the eye contact for God knows how long, until she shook her head, leaning back to her seat. She wasn't sure why Kara was doing this because (1) she doesn't know Kara at all and (2) poor girl literally just broke up with what seemed like someone she's been with for a long time.

With a bitter chuckle, Lena spoke, “See? This is exactly why straight girls doesn't deserve rights.”

She didn't see Kara's reaction but she knew she had her eyebrows furrowed. “What makes you think I'm straight?”

“Sam told me,” she simply said, turning her whole body to Kara's direction to engage on the conversation a lot more. Lena knew it was a dangerous game, and it was why she was hopping in, joining anyway. 

Kara watched her for a while, before taking the mouth of the bottle to her own, drinking only a little. “Hmm,” she hummed, wiping her mouth off. “You can say I'm a little curious.”

Oh, she was so ‘not’ straight, but Lena wasn't about to give it up. She wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, or maybe just the fact that Kara was insanely attractive — perhaps both — that she continued, “Oh yeah? Another straight girl interested about nothing but the free trial?”

“You can't be so sure,” Kara shrugged, leaning forwards as well. “What if I want a subscription?”

God, why was she so smooth? Sure, that had caught Lena off guard, flustered her even, but she couldn't back down. Keeping her composure and an amused smile on her face, she continued, “And what? Unsubscribe when you find something much more interesting?”

“Not when the performance ratings has five stars.”

“What if there's something else with a better rating, then?”

They've held eye contact before but this, the one right here, was their most intense one. Lena could almost memorise every detail of Kara's face, even in those dim lights. She was feeling a little less drunk as they spoke, but that doesn't mean she'd be less reckless too. 

After a few breaths, Kara broke the silence that was going on just between the two od them — it was corny, but Lena could've sworn the entire club went on a silent mode during those few seconds.

“Try me.”

Lena smirked, thinking back to earlier when she decided getting laid was the last thing she needed tonight. But with Kara looking like ‘that’ and saying ‘that’ using ‘that’ tone, Lena might as well just swallow her pride. Who could blame her, really?

“For a free trial?”

“Either works for me.”

She wasn't sure which was worse: Having casual sex with an ex or having one with a complete stranger.

But then, what was life without stupid decisions anyway?

“Well then,” Lena said, her mind made up. “A or B?”

“What?”

“Choose,” she said, tapping her foot impatiently. “A or B.”

“A?” Kara answered, her former flirty endeavor now gone, confusion on her face. 

Lena smirked at her, “One of the options is us getting out of here, the other is us dancing.”

Kara narrowed her eyes, the smile back on her face, “Yeah? Which one's A?”

Biting her lips, Lena stood, leaning dangerously close to Kara's ears. “Does it matter?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Raise your hands if you expected this to be a hookup!rooted AU! Ha! Gotcha! 
> 
> Everyone's very, very gay and indecisive. Lol! Anyway, I published a new fic that follows canon events! Check that out if you're more into that kind of stuff. Lots of love! Kudos? Kudos.


	6. 6: just take what i'm willing to give

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No details, sorry. : )

Lena Luthor didn't lose her shoe this time around. 

And this time around, she didn't wake up in one of the biggest Penthouses in Star City. Instead, she woke up in this narrow space of a three star hotel room, the bed just enough for the size of two people — which apparently wasn't enough for Lena because she slid out of it the moment she gained consciousness. 

She glanced back to Kara's sleeping figure for the last time, pausing a little bit as she allowed the calmness of the Blonde's endeavor to calm her down, too. Biting her lips, she shuddered, remembering all that happened since they've been talking on that bar. In fact, it all went by too fast, and Lena knew she needed to drink a strong coffee before actually processing everything that had happened. 

She was outside in due time, traveling to her apartment first to change then rushing back to a diner she was supposed to meet Sam and Ruby on. They agreed to meet there via messages, prior to yesterday's events, and the main purpose of it was for Lena to finally see Ruby again and to hype each other up for the respective lunch they had with each others exes — but now Lena found herself more eager to have a talk with Sam. Surprisingly, she wasn't so hangover, and so was the brunette who was already on one of the booths with her daughter. 

Sam spotted her eventually, one eyebrow raised, “You left me last night.”

“Huh?” Lena asked quizzically, catching a hyper twelve-year-old who was throwing herself in a bear hug. Lena messed up Ruby's hair and beamed at the kid, guiding the both of them to the chair opposite to Sam who was still looking at her in disbelief. 

“You were my ride last night, Lena.”

With that, Lena stopped on her tracks, looking up and meeting Sam's gaze. Truly, she's forgotten about that. Swallowing, Lena let out an awkward chuckle, smiling rather forcedly. “Shit, sorry, it slipped my mind.”

“Stop cursing!”

“Oh,” Lena threw a peace sign on the air, smiling at Ruby who was just rolling her eyes. The truth was, she was used to that already. Still, Lena humored Sam, “It won't happen again.”

Amused, Sam called the attention of the servers and in due time, the foods were being served, the topic from earlier now gone. They spoke about harmless things, like Ruby's school, and like how she missed it since Wednesday when they flew here. 

Lena knew there was an elephant in the room, both of them had ‘so’ much to say and Lena found herself getting anxious. She didn't do anything so scandalous last night, why was she even so caught up about that? 

What happened with Kara was… well, she wasn't sure if it was a one-time thing or not. Perhaps they'd do it again, casual and all that. Either way, Lena didn't care, she doesn't have anything to lose if it went sideways. Kara wasn't even a friend, she could easily drop her one way or another. 

It was easy to look at it like that, but now she realised that Sam was friends with Kara too, and that she even dated her sister. Because of this fact, Lena thought it was safe to say that… okay, maybe it was a little complicated. Just a tiny bit.

Not to mention, Andrea was still on the picture — Andrea, whom she's had an agreement to not screw with anyone else as long as they were still fucking. And that wasn't even the best part: The best part was it was with Kara, Andrea's assistant. 

God, what was Lena thinking? Nothing, apparently. She ‘wasn't’ thinking at all. 

Lena couldn't help but feel bitter. How was she technically single but still worries about this stuff?

“Where'd you even go last night?” Sam asked when Ruby started to tune out from the conversation, muttering something about how boring Grown-ups conversations were. 

Lena placed her fork down, looking down to her unfinished waffles and deciding her appetite was gone. “Uhm, well, I kinda left…”

“Yeah, I got that part.”

“… with someone.”

“So, Kara got down on you, then?”

“Then—” Lena trailed off, her eyes widening as Sam smirked at her. “How'd you even know it was—you know what? Nevermind.” Lena picked her fork up again, deciding she'd finish this if that meant she wouldn't have to spill her secrets. She knew Sam wouldn't hold back even if Ruby could hear, and she also knew Ruby would hold things against her if she knew. God, that kid was such a carbon copy of her mother. 

“Okay, maybe I should hold the gossip for next time,” Sam said, two eyes widely open in a way that made Lena snort. 

“What does that mean?”

“It means I wanna gossip now but at the same time I don't.”

Lena could practically see how less joyful Sam was today. In some normal circumstances, she would be up on Lena's ass to spill all the details, but it was obvious that she was out of it. It also wouldn't take a genius to conclude that Alex had a lot to do with it. 

She gave her an apologetic smile. They may have come here to talk exactly about their exes, but maybe what they needed right now was to avoid exactly that — and avoid Lena's whereabouts too — because there'd always be next time. 

-

Lena bailed on Kate.

No, technically not, because all she did was ask Kate to just go to her office instead and they could eat and talk there. It may have been such a diva move, but Lena wasn't making excuses, she really had an excessive amount of workload and there was no way Kate Kane was more important than any of it. 

She wasn't sure why she kept checking her phone. Maybe it was for Kate, to get ready just in case she was already on the lobby. Maybe it was for Andrea, who texted her last night and then in the middle of the night — one she obviously only read in the morning because she was rather ‘very’ occupied when she received it — and ‘then’ earlier, saying that she knew about how Kate was in town. For a second there, Lena forgot that the two even knew each other, then she realised that she actually was with Andrea the first time she had met Kate, through Beth. 

And she was obsessively checking her messages for Kara. It was insane, Lena knew Kara wouldn't magically send her a text because (1) she doesn't have her phone number and (2) maybe last night really was a one-time thing and she doesn't have to sweat it too much. Then again, Lena couldn't care less if it was.

Either way, she knew she needed to cut ties with Andrea, feel good about herself just by herself, then maybe try and go out there. Wow, look at her thinking about prioritising her love life and well-being for once. It was a bold move, even for her.

She was thinking maybe she'd call Andrea back after she had the conversation with Kate, then it would all be a smooth sailing by tonight. 

Right now, however, she needed to face the storm. And who knows? Maybe she would survive it just fine.

Perhaps not. And perhaps her wishful thinking had jinxed all of it.

“Miss Luthor,” Her assistant, Eve, called after a few knocks, peeking, “Miss Kane is here to see you and,” she trailed off, looking back, “She's with Miss—a friend, said she's with a friend.”

Lena narrowed her eyes, but approved and told Eve to let them in. She was in the middle of sorting the papers on her table when she caught the glimpse of the two ladies entering her office. 

And maybe she dramatically dropped a stack of paper alongside it too. 

“Andrea? What are you doing here?”

Andrea looked at her with a smirk, shaking the bag of takeouts in her hands. “Nice to see you too, Lena. It's been a ‘long’ time.”

Lena gulped. Why the hell was she in here? And why in hell was she with Kate?

She and Andrea had an agreement with lots of things in it: One of which involved not acting friendly in public. And, technically, this wasn't in public but Lena could only imagine how many employees has seen the Andrea coming to the building. ‘That’ was pretty public. 

She gave Kate a warning glance, calculating what she'd say because the only thing Kate knew was that they were exes, not that Lena had been in Andrea's bed less than a week ago. 

“Sorry, bumped into her while ordering,” Kate said with a shrug, “She said she misses you, thought I'd invite her, and here we are.”

Gritting her teeth, she allowed the two of them to place the food on the table near the couches, the three of them settling on three different ones, as though they'd catch the plague if they got any closer. 

Lena watched as the two watched her, her being in the middle, with the two sitting on the opposite couches. She knew she was being dramatic if she said she couldn't breathe, but she literally couldn't. This was all going wrong. She was supposed to deal with Kate now, get the closure she needed, then cut that shit out. Then, she was supposed to deal with Andrea later, which she guessed would be a lot easier. Still, having both of them in the same room whilst she was too caught up was just too much. 

The beginning of the lunch consisted of formalities only, the topics not exceeding boundaries yet, and Lena couldn't help but find the humour in it. When she first met Kate, she and Andrea had been together and were only lovestruck teenagers. Now, they were all there again, two CEOs and one don't-give-a-fuck millionaire. 

As bitter as the memories were, Lena couldn't help but appreciate how far they've all gone. 

“What brings you in Star City?” Andrea suddenly asked, the question obviously directed to Kate. 

“Business stuff,” Kate said, “We actually had a party last night, if I had known you're based here now I would've invited you.”

“Oh, I knew you would've,” Andrea said with a huff, her gaze landing on Lena and she pretty sure that meant: ‘Is that why you didn't answer last night?’ or maybe even ‘Did you fuck Kate? Please tell me you didn't, that's against the rules! Do you know you can infect me with… something!’

Lena could feel herself tensing, but technically, she didn't fuck Kate. She fucked someone else. Very different. 

‘Oh, Andrea, no, I didn't fuck my ex,’ she thought, ‘Fucked your Assistant though. You're welcome!’

Kate didn't need to answer that because then Andrea's phone started ringing and she was quick to excuse herself, walking towards Lena's balcony. When she was gone, Lena turned to Kate, “What the hell were you thinking? This was supposed to be just us, to talk, remember?”

Kate stared at her, shrugging, “You know how she is, she gets what she wants. Besides, I'll still be in the City until monday, no need to rush.”

Oh, she was being a jerk. She was being a complete jerk. It was obvious by Kate's body language that she really wasn't here to apologise to Lena — if that was even the case — or even to clear things up, for a second Lena considered that her invitation last night really was something she truly meant. 

“Sorry, that's my assistant,” Andrea informed them when she came back, “You don't mind that she'll drop by to give some papers to me, right? She's already close.”

Lena's eyes widen, her blood rushing and… just when she thought this couldn't get any worse!

“She can't just… email it or something?” she asked frantically, the octave higher than her usual tone, watching as Andrea shook her head as she sat. 

“No?” Andrea chuckled, “You know how I like to just read stuff and reject it right there and then. Don't worry, she's new and she's my second assistant; for CatCo and not for Obsidian, I know how much you hate my first assistant.”

This was bad. This was ‘so’ bad. Lena knew Andrea had an another assistant, that one entitled man who's worked for her since forever, and Lena ‘hated’ that man. In fact, she'd never allow him to be within the premises of L-Corp. However, right now she hoped he'd be the one to show up and not—

“Wait, CatCo?” Kate asked, and Lena knew what was coming. She turned to Lena, “Kara said she works for CatCo's big boss, right?”

Lena looked away just as Andrea looked back and forth to them. She grabbed the glass of juice, drinking until it was all gone. She was ‘so’ gonna mess up. 

“You know Kara?”

Lena wasn't looking so she wasn't sure if that was intended for her or for Kate. Either way, she had no plans to answer. In fact, she was considering just kicking these two out — probably by force. Maybe she should call Security — so Andrea could just meet Kara on the Lobby or something. But then, Kara pretty much already knew where Andrea was, and Lena remembered just when she denied her connections with Andrea to Kara.

Not that it was a big deal or anything, but it was only because Lena was dramatic, okay? She has the right to be dramatic even if it would all be fine in the end.

Or not. 

“Just met her last night,” Kate answered nonchalantly, “Cool chick, right, Lena?”

Lena didn't know what Kate was implying, so she didn't answer. She wondered if Kate had the same thought Kara had last night: About how Lena had a thing for blondes. But perhaps not, considering both Kate and Andrea were her exes and none of them were blonde. 

The awkward silence was broken by three consecutive knocks on the door. It followed by Eve excusing and telling Lena that Andrea's assistant was in fact right outside. 

And, of course, Andrea wouldn't just stand and meet her outside, and instead she was the one who told Eve to let her in — a sentiment that Lena was too tired to counter. 

Lena braced herself — for what? She wasn't sure either — and put on the best smile she could plaster when her eyes met with Kara's, the blonde not looking too shocked to see her but looked startled when her eyes dropped to Kate. 

“Miss Danvers, thanks for coming,” Andrea said as she stood up, Kara making pleasantries with Kate and just smiling back at Lena, a glimpse of what Lena couldn't make was reflecting on those blue eyes. 

Lena wasn't able to watch the interaction and Kara in general so she just looked down because, suddenly, the floor looked ‘very’ interesting. 

All she could see when she see Kara was how she looked earlier today. Very earlier today. 

She swallowed, looking back up and realising that these were some of the few people who actually has seen ‘her’ naked before. For fuck's sake, they could literally build a “We Fucked Lena Luthor” squad and they didn't even know. Thank Goodness, they didn't even know. 

Lena was sure it wouldn't get any worse. Kara would just leave and do Assistant things, Andrea would leave before Kate so they'll finally have some privacy, then she'll call Andrea at night then settle everything, ‘then’ everything would be completely ‘perfect.’

But of course she just jinxed it. Of course, she did. 

“Hey, Andrea,” Kate called, “Since all of us knows Kara, why don't we just let her stay, I mean, we ordered too much food.”

If Lena wanted to kick them out earlier, she now wanted to throw them all out off the balcony. 

“Besides she's been too nice to bring these all,” Kate added and Lena couldn't understand it. Perhaps Kate was really avoiding the alone time with her to fix things like adults. Chuckling bitterly, Lena had really lost hope of the outcome she originally expected. 

“That's a good idea,” Andrea agreed, waving the paper, “Since she needs to wait for me to finish reading this too, might as well just join us.”

Kara looked unsure, but with encouragement from the two, there was only one person to seek for approval of. Kara looked at Lena for reassurance. As much as she wanted to say ‘No, I don't want any of you here in my office’, she knew she had no choice. So then she smiled once more, nodding. 

With that, Kara gave them all a tight-lipped smile. “A lunch with three powerful businesswomen? Wouldn't miss it for the world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you, this fic is as gay as it can get.


	7. 7: are you down to be a distraction

That was the longest lunch Lena has ever had. 

She, in fact, had to stage an appointment in order to throw everyone out — all thanks to Eve — with a promise to see ‘all’ of them again tonight on the fight. It wasn't that any of the girls grilled her or anything, it was exactly the opposite. The lunch was extremely awkward and Lena just wanted to snap her fingers and make everyone fade into nothingness, if that would save all of them from an another half-assed topic and forced niceness and laughter.

She ended up sharing deadly glances with Andrea, whom she already sent a text message on just right after they left. However, she didn't get to have any private moment with Kate, which seemed to be the latter's true intention. All Lena could do was sigh and give it up because, hell, she needn't a closure anyway. 

Regarding Kara, well, it wasn't as bad as she expected. 

She knew what they did was Kara's first time with a woman, she said so herself. Lena knew this story very well: Once you found yourself curious about ‘things’, you happen to just fall into the bed of anyone — literally anyone — who liked the same ‘things.’ Just like how she ended up in Andrea's bed with no hesitation when she first realised that she, in fact, was a lesbian. She didn't even look around for any other women loving women individuals, no, she jumped in to the person who was already there — Andrea, who was her roommate at the time. 

She figured it was the same for Kara. And she wondered why it doesn't bother her, not one bit. She doesn't really care about what last night meant for the blonde, if it was really her experimenting phase ‘and’ what she thought of it. God, was Lena okay in bed? Was she ‘just’ okay in bed?

She truly doesn't know. Because this was real life, you do not fuck people and ask them to rate your skills afterwards, ‘then’ have those ratings plastered on your C.V as you ask for your next lover or… well, fuck buddy, as vulgar as that sounded. Let us be clear, Lena wasn't really the one for those kind of things. She only engaged with that with Andrea, whom she shared most of her adolescence years with, whom she's known for years. Why she did it with Kara — with no fight at all — was still a huge mystery to her. 

The Blonde doesn't look like someone who hopped on everyone's bed with every chance she got as well, so Lena decided that last night was probably just a mix of Kara's curiousity and brokenheart, Lena's annoyance and frustration, and both of theirs not-so-sober selves.

Yes, it was safer to just blame it to alcohol. Lena Luthor was a responsible adult, she does not make stupid decisions. So, yes, blame it to the alcohol. 

Or maybe blame it to those arms. God, who would've thought Kara was hiding ‘those’ behind those button down shirts she wore?

No, that wasn't it. That ‘couldn't’ be it. 

The next hours went by painfully slow, with Lena focusing more on her work rather than stressing about her — lack of — relationships. Plural. Hell, when has it gotten this complicated for her? 

Few more hours later, Lena found herself sat on a bar again. At this point she'd think she drank too much, so then she chose not to drink anything with alcohol in it. The matches would take place in less than an hour, right now the crowd was just filling in — all of which were business persons or those college kids with way too trusting parents a.k.a those kids with an excessive amount of money on their bank accounts, already accessible to waste for partying and gambling. 

The growing crowd was being entertained by the band manned by Charlie, and Lena thought the music was rather amusing. She fished her phone from her pocket to text Sam, knowing she was probably somewhere on the locker room with Ruby and would watch from there — through cameras — because the kid wasn't exactly allowed in the venue. 

She wondered where Sara was as well, then she remembered she was probably pumping Ava too. There wasn't anything she could do, because yes, she could go to the locker room but she does ‘not’ want to. To hell would she face Kate again after her display of being an ass just earlier today. Beth was probably by her side too, not to mention her girlfriends, which meant that everyone she knew was rather busy with something else. Lena was starting to think she really shouldn't have come at all. 

“So, I heard a rumour.”

Lena jumped from the stool, seeing Kara from her side, smiling down at her, the bar too full for her to find a seat. “Why aren't you inside?”

“Why aren't you?” Kara asked back, leaning closer as a group of people — Lena refused to call them young people because she wasn't ‘old’, thank you very much! — squeezed through their side. There weren't any seats, so it was either you stood around the ring and actually watch the matches or you stay seated on the bars and just get shit faced.

“But that isn't the point!” Kara said, her voice muffled through the loud music Charlie was singing. “I heard a rumour!”

“And I should care about it because?”

Kara was close, too close. Literally, her lower chest was right on Lena's face because she was standing. Lena gulped, taking in the huge smile in Kara's lips that ‘always’ seemed to make it to her eyes. She could feel her heartbeat growing faster, perhaps because she felt awkward after last night or because it was just loud and there were so many people. Still, Kara was radiating such positive and welcoming energy that Lena couldn't quite make up what was about. 

With Andrea, they were doing ‘it’ but they weren't bringing anything up when others were around. They were never seen in public, and they weren't anywhere near friendly whenever they did. They were merely exes with benefits, and literally nothing else. Kara, however, was acting like nothing happened and Lena wasn't sure if this was the better reaction or not. Her energy was so welcoming and Lena felt herself wanting to dive in, which was weird, because she doesn't even know Kara at all. 

She was just a random stranger who happened to be friends with one of her friends; who also happened to have seen her naked. No big deal. 

Still, it was weird to act really civil with someone she only slept with, and to be honest it was rather terrifying. 

“You're really mean,” Kara said with a giggle, leaning down, her glasses reflecting the lights from the club. “I like it.”

“Not drinking beer tonight?” Lena decided to ask because truly, the first thing she noticed was the lack of the disgusting smell of beer on Kara's mouth. 

Kara smiled, waving a glass of whiskey, “You said you hate the smell of beer.”

Lena was caught off guard, she had said ‘that’ in passing last night, in between kisses. Because, well, it was all she could ‘taste’. 

“Anyway, about the rumour:” Kara said, leaning closer and closer. “I heard Lena Luthor dated Andrea Rojas for years when they were younger.”

Lena was close to slapping her hand against Kara's mouth when she said ‘Andrea’, but she wanted to tackle her to the ground when she continued speaking ‘after’ the music faded away, and maybe Lena was being dramatic again, but she could've sworn Kara was talking too loud, the others around them heard just that. 

“Why were you speaking so loud?” Lena asked as she stood up frantically, looking around, her hands suddenly on Kara's to drag her somewhere more private just in case she said more things. However, she stopped on her tracks when the warmth of Kara's hands connected with her stone cold ones. She let go of it, so fast that it shocked the Blonde. 

Lena shook it off though, looking back to her former seat and seeing that it was already occupied by someone else. Great. Now she was standing toe to toe with Kara — who was the same height as her because she decided to wear heels — who was looking at her like she wouldn't leave her alone anytime soon. 

Perhaps the rest of the people could leave ‘them’ alone. 

No, not that.

“Uhm,” Lena cleared her throat, her eyes on Kara's, then on Kara's drink. Screw it, she needed some of those. Instead of being like a normal person and ordering her own drinks, she grabbed Kara's and took a sip off it slowly, her eyes on the Blonde who was looking at her with such amusement. Lena was nice, because she didn't empty it and handed it back to Kara afterward. “Anyway, yeah, I heard Lena Luthor is a fucking whore. I mean, what's new, right?”

The joke didn't quite made the same effect on Kara. ‘Okay, she was one of those people who hated cracking those kind of jokes. Got it!’ Lena thought. 

“Lena Luthor seem to be full of surprises,” Kara said instead, her hand on Lena's small back when the latter almost lost her balance after clumsily taking a step back.

None of them made a huge deal out of it, none except for Lena's cheek which she was sure was getting hotter and hotter by every second. Instead, she dragged both of them towards the nearest hallway, away from all the noise. Because now the host or whatever that man was called was saying something on the microphone as everyone gathered around the ring even more, to the point that Lena couldn't see much from where they were. 

“Haven't you found out a lot about her last night?” Lena asked, her getting quieter as they've reached the hallways. A lot of people were still passing through, but this was as private as they could get right now.

“I have, but maybe not enough,” Kara responded, “So what do you say?”

Lena absolutely hated herself for considering just ditching the entire night and leaving with Kara again. Why would she? It wasn't like they had a clear arrangement on what ‘this’ was. First, she couldn't exactly ask, because she doesn't want to give the impression that she wanted more — she doesn't. Second, she also wasn't sure what approach to use with this girl because for the millionth time, she was a stranger. 

Literally, a stranger. 

One that's seen her naked and vice versa. 

Why does her mind keep going back to the word ‘naked’ and the person ‘Kara’?

“I mean,” Kara suddenly said, her tone quick, almost out of panic. “I don't want to pressure you or anything I just—I—I really enjoyed last night.”

If Kara couldn't see Lena blushing earlier because of the lights, she sure as hell could now. So then Lena looked away, before looking back up. “Well, you don't have anyone else to compare it with so…”

“Wow, did you ‘not’ just brag about yourself?” Kara asked sarcastically, and Lena found it amusing how they could both joke around like this already when they've only spoken a few times. Last night wasn't much talking, but she knew her personality shined through, maybe Kara picked up on that too. 

Lena just looked at her crazy and Kara laughed, “I was saying… I suppose we both had a good time, sorry for assuming but I really do think that. And so I was thinking, we both could use distractions, don't we? Just… casual. Don't be freaked out, I usually don't do things like this, you won't, like, catch anything. Or—fuck, I'm so bad at this.”

Lena just watched as Kara rambled. As much as she was turned on by a flirty Kara, she found shy and awkward Kara much more adorable. And maybe she preferred it too, because she could make fun of this version whilst she could only manage to drop some smart comments on the other — all while trying to keep her hands to herself. Because, honestly, she only had so much self control. 

“So like… strangers with benefits?” she asked, the words sounding more ridiculous as she said it out loud. Who were they? Straight people starring in a Blockbuster film? 

“Ehm, Friends with benefits, I guess?”

‘Not it sounded more like that one film,’ she thought. 

“Friends?”

Kara seemed shock, or embarrassed, because then she started to play with her glasses. “I—well, I thought we could be friends along the way? I don't know, I really have no idea how this works.”

‘I don't know either,’ she wanted to say, but she had too much of an ego to do so. Still, she knew one thing: “We can't exactly be friends ‘friends’, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Not the kind of friends who are emotionally attached, because that will make things complicated,” she said, and she knew she was being too critical yet stupid because, ‘damn’, she really was doing this huh? 

And she really was making these statements already when she hasn't cleared the air with Andrea yet. But then again, she wasn't dating anyone, neither of these were official. Still, she felt like an asshole not telling the other about the other. She'd get there, or maybe she promised herself she would.

“Hmm,” Kara hummed, a smirk forming on her lips. “So that's a yes then?” she asked, the confidence from earlier was back, no trace of any shyness whatsoever. 

Lena rolled her eyes. This time, she couldn't blame anything or anyone else but herself. It was her being stupid, it was all on her. Before she could answer, she saw Kara's eyes widening, panicking, and literally trying to grab onto something — anything — for some reason. 

“Shit,” she grunted, looking away from her right, hiding her face.

Lena looked to where Kara had been looking at, seeing the woman standing just right there, only a few feet away from them, other strangers passing though but she obviously stood out.

“Imra? You have an issue with her?” Lena asked in confusion. L-Corp has worked with Imra before and that woman was one of the smartest and nicest people she's ever met. “Why? She's literally an angel personified, and that's a lot coming from me because I literally hate everyone, no offence.”

“Exactly,” Kara said, rather bitterly as she gently held Lena's forearms, ready to walk away. “I can't hate her.”

“What? Then why are we—”

Lena didn't have to finish that sentence, because then it was all answered before Kara could even drag her back inside — or anywhere else, she truly doesn't care. 

Imra was standing there on her phone, then suddenly a man Lena knew she saw once came up to her, hugging her from behind and kissing the back of her neck. That was when it hit Lena that that man was Mike, Kara's ex, and he was right ‘there’ kissing Imra in front of everyone.

If Kara's expressions weren't enough to prove that her theory was right, Lena doesn't know what was. This time, she was the one who held tightly on Kara, smiling at her, “Let's get out of here.”


	8. 8: i need you to not want to be mine

Hookup Etiquette Number 1: Leave the place before the other party wakes up. It's going to reassure the other party that it's just a hookup, nothing else, and can probably be a one-time thing.

Lena Luthor failed this almost two weeks ago when she lost her freaking shoe and ended up stealing Andrea's. 

Hookup Etiquette Number 2: Do not cuddle, it's going to give either party some kind of a power to think that it isn't just a hookup. 

Lena Luthor failed this yesterday, when she woke up cuddling with Kara. However, she left before the other party could notice — or maybe Kara woke up earlier than her, but chose not to break it off anyway. ‘Or whatever’, it doesn't matter. 

Hookup Etiquette Number 3: Never, never stay ‘and’ act friendly with the other party. This is the main recipe of chaos and complicated, and surely, either of the parties don't want it.

Lena Luthor was sure she wasn't going to break this one. No, she had way more self-control than that. She accomplished this one even when Andrea caught her sneaking out. She could do this one more time 

It was a Sunday and she was supposed to spend the entire day at her home, with Sam and Ruby coming over sometime throughout the day. The original plan was to leave without waking Kara up, just like yesterday. 

But honestly, no, the original plan was to go straight home after the matches, not to hookup with the same girl you hookedup with the night before. 

‘God, this was all so wrong,’ Lena thought as she found her eyes widening when she realised she was alone in Kara's bed. 

Gulping, Lena slid off the covers, collecting her clothes from last night and doing all she could to wear them as quickly as possible. After that, she grabbed her purse and took a look at herself through her cellphone. When she decided she doesn't look completely shit faced, Lena knew it was time to go. So grabbing her shoes as she held the purse with her another hand, she opened Kara's door and was greeted by the smell of ‘food’ from what she assumed as the kitchen. 

She cursed under her breath, she could only hope she'd still be able to escape, the thought of Kara seeing her naked in the morning — with her being unconscious and with the sunlight hugging her face and body — seemed to bother her a little bit. Then again, she'd stared at Kara like the creepy woman that she was yesterday, so she couldn't exactly be hypocritical about that. 

Hoping that she could still somehow escape without having an exchange with the blonde post-sex, she tried the best she could to close Kara's door as quietly as possible. Unfortunately for her, she was about to close it completely when it made such a loud shriek, not being able to be closed all the way through. 

'Fuck,’ she thought, trying again and succeeding this time. Why does that have to happen? She's closed this door before and it certainly didn't made that—Okay, it was okay. She was okay, she was going to make it, she was going to be able to sneak out without—

“Lena!” Kara's voice startled her, making her stop from her tracks, “Good morning, I'm making breakfast!”

Her voice was so cheerful so early in the morning and Lena had no choice but to turn her head and look at Kara's direction. There she was, all smiley, with an oversized shirt, a spatula in her hand, and—well, a really, really short shorts that she looked like she wasn't wearing one. Lena shook her head, not knowing why but she was ‘smiling’ back. 

“Kara,” she said as a greeting, walking towards the Blonde and stopping… Nope, she couldn't stay. “I—I think I should go, I'm needed at the office.”

Kara looked at her quizzically, “It's a sunday, I'm pretty sure even the CEO takes some time off?”

Lena knew she couldn't makeup excuses because truly, she ‘shouldn't’. She doesn't owe Kara any explanation about why she should just go away like nothing happened the morning after. Still, she couldn't find the heart to tell Kara off, especially not with that pout. 

When she didn't respond, Kara's eyes widen, “Oh, is this like one of the things we shouldn't do? God, sorry, I told you I don't know anything about this whole… thing.”

‘Yes, surely you do not,’ Lena wanted to say, but didn't. In fact, she was contemplating whether to just stay or—‘Are those burning fried chicken?’

“Geez,” Kara cursed — or not — and held her finger up at Lena, retreating back to her kitchen. 

Shaking her head, her curiosity got the best of Lena and followed her, seeing the Blonde take some deep fried chicken off the oil, muttering something Lena couldn't understand but it was obvious that it was about how the chickens were almost burnt. 

“You distract me so much I forgot about my food,” Kara told Lena with a chuckle, grabbing a plate to put the chicken on and Lena took the time to take a look at the table, seeing fruits, waffles — oh, waffles —, maple syrup, a salad, bacon and eggs, and… breakfast burritos? An enormous amount of massive breakfast burritos, that was.

“Is it because I'm such a snack?” Lena asked, cringing. ‘Why was she doing this again?’

Kara seemed to stop what she was doing, shaking her head with a smile before placing the plate down together with the others. “Nope,” she said, grabbing a whole banana, peeling it, “It's because I find you very appeeling.”

“Hmm, nice eggspression,” Lena grinned, hating how she was actually enjoying this. ‘And’ that wasn't even a good pun! Not even a decent one, let alone a ‘new’ one! Honestly, what was wrong with her?

Kara snorted, biting at the banana before setting it down to her empty plate. She turned around, grabbing the coffee pitcher, and offering it to Lena with a smile, “To kick off this brewtiful morning?”

“I usually like tea better, but that's fine too,” Lena said. 

With that, Kara frowned, setting two mugs across them. “But I saw you ordering a massive coffee that day we actually met.”

“I was just trying to scramble it up.”

Kara laughed that she almost spilled the coffee. “I thought we were done?”

“Nope, but I guess we can wrap it up now,” Lena said, sitting down and nodding to the burrito. 

Shaking her head, Kara finally managed to fill their mugs, sliding one to Lena. “I wasn't sure how you like your breakfast so I kinda… made everything.”

Raising her eyebrows, Lena watched as Kara took the seat across her, telling her to dig in. She was hesitant at first, not really knowing why she was being friendly with… they agreed to at least be friends, that was for sure, but Lena knew that this wasn't a very smart move and would a hundred percent backfire in the end.

Telling herself to ‘screw it, it was already happening,’ Lena placed some of the waffles on her plate, side-eyeing Kara's choice of tw breakfast burritos, a piece of chicken thigh with some maple syrup, and bacon and eggs. 

Lena grabbed some blueberries too, placing them on top of the waffle before applying some syrup. “Glad you like your waffles too.”

“Of course, I used to be a huge pancake girl, but I got tired of it. I ate that thing althoughout Uni,” Kara said with a mouthful, chuckling right after downing it with some coffee that Lena was sure burnt her tongue but didn't show it—a reason for Lena to pretend she didn't notice it because, hello, she was really, really polite. Thank you. 

“Liking waffles makes you better than most people,” Lena mumbled, taking her first bite.

“Did you just ‘almost’ quote a line from Scott Pilgrim?”

“Maybe,” Lena grinned, both of them falling to a comfortable silence afterwards.

Lena stopped questioning it. What ‘it’ was was a huge mystery as well: Was she questioning her decision to have a new hookup buddy? Was she questioning her decision to break all her etiquettes for Kara? 'Or’ was she questioning the rush she was feeling in the deepest of her stomach? The rush so odd, so fast, that it was calming her.

“So, I say the chicken changed your mind about me cooking us breakfast?” Kara asked as Lena cut through her very own chicken thigh. 

“I suppose it did,” she replied with a huff, making a face when she bit to the ‘way’ overcooked side of her chicken. “I suppose I made the wrong decision. Gordon Ramsay would not be proud.”

“He's gonna shame you for eating the ‘freaking food,’ and shame me, because it's ‘burnt’!”

“Kara,” Lena said with a giggle, “What are you?”

Kara snorted, “Not a sandwich, but an idiot.”

When they finally finished their food, Lena volunteered to wash the dishes — a thing she loved, by the way. No sarcasm whatsoever — but Kara insisted she just sat there and finish her second cup of coffee (Don't question it!).

Lena sat there quietly for a few minutes, until she realised she had to set some things straight. “Hey, Kara.”

Kara looked back, wiping her hands off. “Yes?”

“Come sit.”

“Yes, Chef,” Kara said with a grin, sitting across from Lena. 

“I know we agreed we'd set some boundaries,” Lena said, keeping herself from cringing because, God, this was just all too awkward. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed, the air thickening. 

“Yeah?”

She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little curious about Kara's life. When they'd encountered Mike last night, they manage to escape and enjoy the matches. However, the change on Kara's behaviour was uncanny. She wanted to ask, but she was afraid that'd be crossing the boundaries. 

She wanted to set some clear ones, but at the same time she was afraid she'd be doing too much. Shifting uncomfortably, Lena sighed, “Okay, maybe it should all be some common knowledge.”

“Okay?”

“It all goes down to: It's just sex.”

Kara was quiet at first, then she sniffed, one that almost said ‘Of course I know that!’ or ‘What do you think of me? A fool? No, I'm not!’

“Yeah, I got that part,” Kara chuckled, “But we can be friends, right? Not to stroke your ego but I do think you're pretty cool, Luthor.”

Lena smirked, “Oh, consider my ego stroked.”

Kara didn't back down, she leaned against the table, the muscles flexing effortlessly and not going unnoticed by Lena. “Oh, you know I usually don't mind stroking your ‘ego’.”

The way she said it assured Lena that she was saying exactly what Lena was thinking. “You do know what Ego means, right?”

“Beyoncé begs to differ.”

“I'm not a man, Kara.”

“Yes,” Kara said, giving Lena a boyish smile, like an excited teenage boy who was about to crack the corniest pick-up line. “You're better.”

Oh, Lena was aware Kara meant that as a joke, it was exactly why she wasn't sure why she was feeling giddy inside. What in the hell was this?

“Remember when we toast about not needing men? Kinda brushed to me, to be honest,” Kara laughed, reaching out to grab Lena's now empty mug, just as the latter was reaching out as well, thinking it wasn't completely empty. 

It happened in a slow motion: A really corny way, a really ‘cliche scene in a cheap TV show’ way, a really not Lena-lly way, or whatever. Their fingers brushed past each other, Lena blushing, pulling out first as the other giggled. 

Kara grabbed it anyway, a smile on her face as she looked at Lena for a second before turning away. Not long after, her phone dinged, her eyebrows raising, then suddenly a cocky smile was on her face again. “Your ex will call me.”

“Andrea?”

“No, Kate,” Kara said, not looking up as she typed away, a smirk on her face before looking at Lena. “Of course it's Andrea, why would I have Kate's number?”

“Yeah, why would you?” Lena was flustered, but asked this instead, watching Kara place the phone down in front of them. “You don't even have mine.”

“On that note, can I get your number?” Kara asked, but before either of them could make a joke about it, Kara's phone rang. The name ‘Andrea Rojas’ popping up, sending Lena to a panic mode. 

Andrea didn't show up to the match last night, and Lena thought she could get away with not speaking with her, let alone not thinking about speaking with her. Yet here she was. 

“Don't answer it!” Lena exclaimed when Kara picked up her phone. 

“What? Lena, she's my boss?” Kara reasoned, sounding more of a question than a statement. 

“You said it yourself, it's a sunday,” Lena pushed, the phone still ringing. 

She knew Kara wouldn't listen, of course she wouldn't. So then she watched as Kara excused herself and answered the call as she exit the room. Lena rolled her eyes, checking her own phone and seeing one message from Kate, a couple from Beth, and about a dozen from Sam. Shit, she forgot about that. 

‘9:31am’, the clock reads.

Where has time gone?

She proceeded to gather her things, looking at the actual mirror this time and exiting the room, just as when Kara looked like she was just finishing the phone call. She looked up, her eyes meeting with Lena's as she stood up from the couch, “Leaving already?”

“Yeah, I forgot I have a meeting with an another hookup partner. Sorry,” Lena teased, walking towards Kara, but stopping before she get ‘so’ close. 

Rolling her eyes, Kara extended her arms, making Lena look down with a frown as she stared at Kara's phone. “That's your phone?”

“Yeah, put your number in there, dummy,” Kara said. 

“No please?”

“‘Please’.”

Chuckling, Lena crossed her arms, not making any effort to actually grab the phone from Kara. “Miss Danvers, if you want my phone number, you better earn it.”

Kara stared at her for a few seconds, rolling her eyes before taking it back. “Haven't I earned it already?”

“Nope. Far from it.”

“Well then,” Kara said, unlocking her phone as she typed. “I'll just get it from my boss.”

Lena would be terrified in some normal circumstances, but seeing how professional Kara acted around Andrea (Re: Lunch), she knew she wouldn't do it. So instead of arguing, Lena took a few steps back and made her way to the door. “Suit yourself.”

“Oh, we're really doing this?”

“Doing what?” Lena grinned as she reached for the doorknob, facing Kara one last time, mocking a salute. “Until next time, Danvers!”

She knew it was a mistake to talk about a next time, but she couldn't help it. Especially when Kara looked like she really wouldn't mind this happening again — which pretty much would, because why the hell would they even discuss boundaries when it wouldn't?

“Come on! Lena I—”

But Lena wasn't listening. With a smirk on her face, she slammed the door shut and shut down Kara's voice. ‘Earn it, Danvers.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the puns are terrible, don't question it. Lol!!


	9. 9: judging by the way we're blending in, you get me

Lena Luthor finally did it. 

She had just driven Sam and Ruby (and the Nanny) to the airport when she received an another ‘Come over tonight’ text from Andrea. 

It wasn't after a pep talk from Sam — whom she just told about her entire messed up situation — that she decided she'd actually come over. She wasn't sure if this was a good idea, considering that when she agreed, Andrea would think they would be doing something completely different than what Lena had in mind. But at the same time, Lena felt like she should be ending things with Andrea in person, rather than through text or just continuing to ghost her. Sure, they weren't actually together and they agreed that sooner or later, their arrangement would come to an end. But still, Lena had the decency to tell Andrea in person because come on, they had history. That was the least she could do. 

For old times, she thought. 

“You're earlier than usual.”

It ‘was’ still early, yes. But Lena wanted to get this over with, not to mention coming early would probably give Andrea the hint that she wasn't here for ‘that’.

Andrea had opened the door like how she usually does whenever she came over. It wasn't the usual ‘I'm so mean and I hate Lena Luthor’ endeavor, it was something completely different that Lena had grown to get used to even if it only happened at night. Andrea had checked her out, her eyebrows furrowing when she saw Lena's rather too professional attire. 

Lena didn't want to give the wrong impression, didn't want Andrea to think she still wanted to do this thing. “Hey, can I come in? I came here to ‘talk’, actually.”

She had said this in the tone she used for her business associates only and the other brunette seemed to have picked up on it already, and put on a mask, her expression so blank as she allowed Lena to step inside. 

“You're gonna dump me now, Luthor?”

Lena furrowed her eyebrows, taking in Andrea's amused expression. “What?”

“Come on,” Andrea huffed, plopping herself down the sofa, opposite to Lena. “I know from the moment I heard Kate's back in town that you'll come running back to her, too.”

Lena audibly gasped, not being able to force herself not to take offence. “Excuse me?”

“We both know you're not over her,” Andrea deadpanned, certainty on her voice. 

Lena calmed herself down internally, not seeing any point on arguing with someone whose opinion she couldn't care less about. So, being the adult that she was, Lena just nodded. She knew the words that would come from her mouth would be too straight forward, but really, there was no sugarcoating needed when it came to Andrea.

“Yes, I'm dumping you and it's because I'm hooking up with someone else but it's not with Kate. I thought you should know... but, okay, whatever you wanna believe, love.”

Andrea was already rolling her eyes, “Yeah. If you get your heart broken again, I'm one call away for some mediocre sex.”

“If it was so mediocre, why do you keep coming back, darling?” Lena asked, the teasing tone back on her voice, but disappearing as quickly as it showed up when they heard someone buzzing at the door. Lena looked up to Andrea in panic, she has never had anyone else over in the penthouse whenever Lena was there. “You're expecting someone?”

Andrea looked equally as confused as first, before the realisation dawned on her. “Oh, it's just my assistant, Kara… and you're friends, right? So we're still safe.”

At this point, Lena was positive that the Universe has its way of putting her in such awkward positions. It wasn't the first time she's been placed between Andrea and Kara: The first one was with her another ex, but that was a different circumstances. This time, she was literally on Andrea's penthouse, private and all that. She wasn't sure which event was worse. 

When Andrea stood to get the door, Lena followed suit, muttering something about having to go anyway. “What's your assistant doing here at eight in the evening ‘and’ on a sunday?”

Andrea chuckled, punching the code on her overly secured front door. “I asked her to bring something.”

“What? Your laundry?” Lena asked in amusement, she didn't know Andrea was this kind of a boss. Then again, she's never cared much about Andrea these days. In fact, she was glad she didn't care, it saved her for more stress. And now, it was over. God, yes, it was over.

The relief vanished right when her eyes met with Kara's, who look equally as surprised to see her at her boss' place. However, she was quick to recover and mutter a greeting to Andrea as she handed a box with… whatever was inside. 

Andrea's shoulder brushed past Lena's when she reached out and Lena wasn't sure why hasn't she dismissed herself yet. She wasn't sure what the Blonde was thinking, heck, she wasn't even sure what exactly she knew about Andrea and her. 

“Thanks, Kara,” Andrea finally said when she set the box down. “You can go. Have a nice night.”

Kara nodded to both Andrea and Lena but the latter interfered before she could turn around and leave. “I'll walk with you,” she said, waving her hand to Andrea as her form at goodbye. 

Lena didn't look back nor did she even spare a glance towards Kara's direction, not until they've reached the elevator, at least. It had only been a few hours since she last saw her, but seeing her right now made Lena want to invite her over, to her place this time. She wondered if that'd make her needy, even with a hookup partner because she never did routines with Andrea. If Kara went over tonight, it'd be their third night simultaneously. 

“Wow, I never thought I'd see you here,” Kara finally said, “Miss Rojas never have anyone over whenever I go here.”

“Oh yeah?” Lena asked, clearing her throat. If anything, she wanted the conversation to be away from Andrea, knowing that Kara could ask her about what she was doing there any time now. 

“I'm glad I saw you though,” Kara said, grinning, “I was about to call you, then I remembered you didn't give your number.”

The elevator dinged and they reached the ground floor, Kara allowing Lena to go out first, mocking an exaggerated courtesy which only made Lena roll her eyes. “I told you, you have to earn it.”

“I remember, Miss Luthor,” Kara said, waving to the person on the table like she was about to run as POTUS. “And I accept the challenge, by the way. What's the first part?”

Here she goes again, using that tone she used that first night they came up with the setup. Somehow, Lena felt bad, only having ended things with Andrea and still have a whole lot of crap she had to deal with with Kate. Not to mention that having Kara over would probably spark a conversation about Andrea, which she wanted to avoid but knew she had to address. 

At the end of the day, of course, with Kara's smile and with the memory of how good last night was, Lena couldn't say no. In her defense, she was human; too vain, too tempted, and too ‘gay’. 

“First step is you going to my place, to change things up,” Lena said, stopping just right outside the building. 

Kara looked like she hasn't been expecting that. But then she smirked, putting her hands on her hips, her chin up. “That's easy.”

“In—” Lena trailed off, glancing towards her wristwarch. “Thirty minutes.”

“What—” Kara paused, her hands falling to her side. “Tonight? My, my, Luthor, is the spell I put you on so strong that you can't wait a night?”

Lena grinned, “Yes, you've mastered the potion quite well.”

The Blonde had a boyish smile on her face. “Well then, where's the infamous Lena Luthor's apartment?”

She knew she was being ‘so’ not careful, but at this point she just didn't care. Kara wasn't just anyone, anyway. Besides, they had mutual friends.

Speaking of ‘friends’, Sam warned her about the risk of actually developing feelings for Kara — a sentiment that Lena had laughed about because, well, she was Lena Luthor and if she could resist falling for Andrea Rojas again after a few months of hooking up, then why couldn't she do the same with Kara Danvers?

Sure, the girl was a greek god in the modern world. Sure, she's got skills even if she was new to the girl on girl world. Sure, she was annoyingly charming and hilarious ‘and’ genuinely made Lena laugh. But, honestly, Lena knew just how this wouldn't end up towards that direction. There was no way. It was either they end on bad terms or they could be really good friends; nothing more than that, and Lena couldn't wait to tell Sam just how right she was.

“Give me your phone.”

-

Lena didn't give Kara her number, no, what she did was she wrote her address on the Blonde's notes. It wasn't because she didn't fancy the idea of having an another contact number being saved under different names after a hookup, no, it was the fact that she enjoyed teasing Kara about not having her number just a little too much. 

“Seriously, does Andrea think she's Miranda fucking Priestly?” was what Lena asked Kara as she opened her door for her, thirty-two minites after parting. Lena was already aware that it was her on the other side of the door, having seen her through the security cameras — don't question ‘why’ — she had. 

It wasn't until she part with Kara earlier that she remembered how wasn't fun it must be like to have your boss calling you at any time in any day of the week just for you to bring them something. Kara had mentioned that it wasn't the first time she's brought something for Andrea at her home, and Lena couldn't help but question the extraneous act.

“Well, kinda,” Kara chuckled, entering the room when Lena walked to the side, helping her with her coat. “I'm more of her personal assistant than the other guy. I like it though, takes my mind off of things, and it isn't like I have better things to do.”

Lena was sure they didn't start the way they originally start during their hookups, so she figured maybe she could carry on with being casual first and just make the turn later if she could. “What is it that you actually do anyway? Like before you moved, if you don't mind my asking.”

“I was a reporter on CatCo's headquarters in National City,” Kara answered, both of them on Lena's living room now, the Blonde's wide eyes were going everywhere, seemingly impressed by the Luthor's place. “But before that, I was Cat Grant's assistant. We're kinda friends, I think, so I managed to get myself a position here even before moving.”

That got Lena's attention, gesturing Kara to sit down. “A secured position? Then no offence but why are you Andrea's assistant?”

Kara laughed, “I didn't take the original position that was offered to me. I don't know, not feeling really passionate about it at the moment, you know?”

Lena could tell Kara was a little defensive, sensitive even. She also knew she was being nosy, but she was curious, okay? She, in fact, wanted to know more. But Kara was already taking the conversation to a different route.

“Your place is wonderful, by the way,” Kara said, grinning as she stood up, walking towards the glass walls, giving a very clear view of the entire city. 

“Andrea's is better,” Lena chuckled. 

“Well, you both have completely different tastes,” Kara said, laughing, “Miss Rojas prefers something huge and extravagant, something so perfect… almost boring, if you ask me. You, however, prefers huge and still luxurious, yes, but still have that home-y, low key feel to it.”

Lena furrowed her eyebrows, pouring them a glass of wine each, handing it to Kara who looked back to her, her back to the City and Lena may or may not thought about how ‘fitting’ the image was. Kara right there, inside her apartment, one with the City. It was her first time there, but Lena was already sure that it wasn't her last.

“Yeah? You know me so well now, Danvers?”

Kara giggled — fucking ‘giggled’ — as she took the glass from Lena. “Well,” she started, “Let's just say I'm pretty observant. Thanks very much.”

They stood there for a short while, gazing over the city. Lena has been staying in this same place for a while now, but she would never get tired of it. She was quietly sipping on her wine before Kara broke the silence. 

“Don't answer this if you don't want to,” Kara said, facing Lena completely. “What were you doing at Miss Rojas'? When she told me you were exes, she said you guys were actually on bad terms?”

Oh, she knew this question was coming. She knew, but still she held on the percentage that Kara would be too shy, and would think it would cross the boundaries. However, she needed to answer this and actually be honest.

She wasn't sure what she was nervous about because, well, there was no reason exactly. It wasn't like she had two girlfriends simultaneously without the others knowing about the other. No, these were just two hookups, no big deal. And if Kara had an issue with her having a thing with Andrea before ‘her’, then maybe she should call off this thing too. She had nothing to lose, really. 

“Okay, now that you asked,” she started. Somehow, she was questioning this decision already because (1) no one, not even Sara, knew about what was going on between her and Andrea until Sam just earlier today and (2) when this goes out, just ‘if’ Kara was actually an asshole who was just here for good sex and gossip — she was a journalist, after all — then Lena would be completely fucked.

Or maybe this was just an another episode of: Lena Luthor being Dramatic, season five hundred and sixty seven. 

“We were kinda… hooking up, or something, for months,” Lena said, hoping she wasn't sounding like such a fuck boy. “I ended it tonight though. Not a big deal, not a single string has been attached.”

Kara looked surprised at first, then confused, then all of a sudden, she looked amused. “Why? Why end things ‘now’?”

‘Why,’ was such a simple question. Lena watched her, waiting for any more follow up question, but nothing came. It should be easy to answer but it could be a trick question.

Was she supposed to say that it was because she found Kara? No, of course not, it would make her sound like she was getting attach to this that soon. Or was she supposed to say it was because she was done with hooking up? Yet again, ‘no’, it would make Kara think that she was done with her as well. 

Not knowing how to answer that in a truthful manner, Lena knew just what to do. 

“I don't know,” she said instead, smirking in a way she knew Kara would understand by now. “Maybe I made the wrong decision?”

Kara hummed, trying to keep a straight face, “Or maybe you didn't.”

“Really?” Lena asked, grabbing Kara's glass from her, setting both of the glasses down with small movements, making sure Kara was watching her as she ever so slowly hunched when she leaned down the table. When she looked back, she caught Kara looking somewhere ‘way’ down than where her head was. “Why don't you show me?”

“Is this the second part of the challenge?” Kara asked, her voice sounding a whole lot more raspier than it did earlier. 

“If I told you it isn't, would you still do it?”

Kara was already stepping closer, reaching out and before Lena knew it, some fingers were brushing gently on the side of her arms. So warm and calming, yet also ‘so’ electrifying, energizing Lena in some way, making her want to do something she's wanted to do since she saw Kara at Andrea's. 

“I'll do anything you want, Luthor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst will come soon. Dw, we're only getting started. Kudos?


	10. 10: i don't need no shoulder, i'm good crying by myself

Lena never thought that the truth could affect her this hard. 

She wasn't sure if it was pain or it was a complete embarrassment. It was sick, really. Why was she the one embarrassed when she was the one who kept it real on her end? Why was ‘she’ embarrassed when she was the one who got fucked over?

Maybe it was her pride, because damn, she couldn't handle the thought of ‘this’ being kept from her for so ‘fucking’ long. Kate and her had a lot of mutual friends, ones she thought were on her side after the breakup, but maybe she was wrong all along. She just felt so enraged, anger running through her veins and not being able to stop it that she said ‘nothing.’

Kate stared at her after the confession, just waiting for her to say something, anything, but Lena was ‘done’. The list of the things Kate had done to her in the past and the amount of disrespect she's shown towards Lena since she came to town this friday was too long for Lena to even stomach. She felt disrespected and embarrassed because she ‘knew’ she deserved better than this. 

Lena stood up from where she had been sitting — a narrow chair inside Kate's hotel room — and turned around as the other woman called out. She stopped on her tracks, looking back one more time and with a bitter smile on her lips, she spoke, “Have a nice fucking life, Kane. Don't show me your face ‘ever’ again.”

She showed herself out and to her luck, Beth was just coming out from the room nextdoor when she did. Their eyes met eventually, Beth's showing what Lena pegged as sympathy and she freaking ‘hated it.’

If she was angry earlier that she couldn't speak, right now she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. Because, hell, how ‘very’ dare they?

She stomped towards Beth, the other woman seemed to not be fazed by it, having expecting ‘this’ after ‘that’ conversation. 

“So you knew?” Lena started, her voice flat, no emotions whatsoever. 

Beth swallowed visibly and Lena could see the veins on her neck tighten. “I did. It wasn't my place to tell—”

“Save it,” Lena said, raising a finger before turning around. Kate's betrayal, she was used to it. But Beth's? God, they were the best pals in boarding school. She was the ‘first’ person she came out on, the first person she confided on when she felt things for Andrea. They were the best team but, well, of course, Kate was her ‘twin’, she would take her side no matter what. 

“Lena, come on,” Beth called, jogging towards Lena who clearly wasn't having it. “Have you any idea how hard it is to be stuck between your best friend and your own god damned twin sister?”

Lena let go an exasperated sigh, stopping abruptly as she looked at Beth with a scowl. “Have you any idea how hard it is to accept that your best friend has lied to your face for so long to tolerate her twin sister's behaviour?”

Beth opened and closed her mouth, words failing her. She cursed under her breath, “Lena, if you just—”

“I hope you live a nice life, too, Beth,” were Lena's final words to Beth. She couldn't bear it, so she didn't look back when the other Kane called out after her, the safety of the lift saving her from all the noises that the very floor brought — except to those it left engraved in her mind. 

Her mind was a loud place at the moment, thoughts — some valid, some completely ridiculous and unreasonable — were flooding in and she couldn't seem to grasp any of them long enough to comprehend them. During moments like this, the first things on Lena's to-do list included sending Andrea a grumpy text message (which would equate as a sexual one) or get completely wasted with Sara and the others. However, this time she just wanted one thing: To stay the fuck alone. 

And that was what she did, for the next two weeks. 

The first few days weren't so great. She spent all of it focused — or not — with her work and ended up projecting her negative energy to her employees, which wasn't exactly who she was. Sure, she'd call bullshit and incompetency out every now and then. But during that week, she literally embarrassed people, even the most hardworking ones, for absolutely no reason. 

On Sunday, she's received a text message from Sara wondering where the hell has she gone to. They were supposed to have a night out on Saturday — a thing that even though Lena doesn't fancy, she always made sure to give Sara a heads up if she wasn't going to make it — and she purposely didn't attend. She's ignored the text message as well, at the same time giving her Assistant a heads up to not tell anyone about her whereabouts or lack thereof. Sara had this thing about showing up to her work or threatening her Assistant to spill details about Lena whenever she goes M.I.A. Not this time though, Lena was quick to do the threatening first. She was boss, after all. 

Lena wasn't sure why she was shutting ‘everyone’ out. Sure, she was bitter about Beth and something inside her was telling her that their other friends ‘knew’ and wasn't telling her anything. However, that wasn't the case with Sara, considering they have both been shocked when this Julia character showed herself.

On Tuesday, a whole week to her moping, she received an another message from Sara, saying she was concerned. On Wednesday, Sara said she's spoken with Ava, who apparently got Kate to spill and now she understood what was happening. Sara even left a voicemail that Lena completely memorised now because of how many times she's repeated it just to flatter herself because hey, you'd only get Sara Lance to be nice to you for at least once a year, tops.

“Lena, I promise, I had no idea,” Sara had said, “Ava had no idea either, she thought the relationship started long after you and Kate broke up. I hope you're well, I'll let you be now but ‘please’ know I'm here. I'd never lie to you.”

Sara ‘did’ leave her be, at least until Sunday rolled around again and Lena received the text message that for some reason has shoken her to the core.

‘Kara dropped by the Gym today. Asked for your number,’ the first message read, followed by: ‘Idk how close y'all are but I figured there's no harm? So yeah, I might have given it. I'd apologize but I'm not really sorry. Message me when you can, you big baby.’

A minute after receiving that, she's indeed received a message from an unknown number. She cursed under her breath, not opening the message. If anything, she wanted to tell Sara to fuck herself because not only did she give Kara her phone number, she gave her her ‘personal’ number. And Lord knows that only about ten people had that.

Still, she didn't want to break her silence yet and waited until it was completely necessary. 

It was on monday night when she's received a short notice that her entire ‘family’ was coming to the City. Well, that was a lie, it wasn't exactly a short notice because they came to the Cities with L-Corp branches in it annually for a Gala. Of course, the Gala. Lillian thought Lena hadn't forgotten about it that she didn't bother reminding her until a few days before — three days before the rest of the Luthors arrive.

Lena came in the office the next morning with Eve giving her a list of names to confirm those that they'd send an invitation with to the Gala. She had shaken it off, telling her she didn't care who else would be there and only cared about the ones she wanted to be there. Like Sara, for example. 

On wednesday morning, she grabbed the invitations that were meant to be sent to her friends, saying that she wanted to give it herself. However, the Luthors arrived earlier than expected and had scheduled a dinner for the entire family and Lena sure as hell wanted nothing to do with it. She couldn't say no though, knowing that it was a public dinner, with people seeing them, with cameras following. 

‘It was good for business’, she reminded herself. To her, the Luthors lived in a fucking dollhouse. It looked so perfect on the outside that people couldn't imagine the horrors inside it. To be honest, she didn't see these things as horrors anymore, with all of it having been her normal since the moment she's accepted that she was a Luthor and had to completely forget about the entire identity she lived before it, with her real mother. 

She still grabbed the invitations though, deciding to give it to Sara tomorrow and make her give the others herself.

Lex was the only person on the table the Luthors had reserved when Lena arrived fifteen minutes before the actual dinner itself because according to Luthor's Etiquette: It's either you arrive at least ten minutes early or you're late. 

Of course, he had always been more punctual than she was. It was the exact reason why he took over the main L-Corp in Metropolis and they had to send her somewhere else — luckily, she had a say on that and volunteered to man the one in Star City — to establish her own. Although way smaller than the main one, Lena was sure as hell she's already made a name of herself and has built an amazing reputation for the conpany here in such a short amount of time. 

“Lena, look at you!” Lex has greeted cheerfully. Once upon a time, that smile and energy used to make Lena feel the same. This time, it only made her cringe and want to turn back, question all her life decisions, and all that. 

They spent their alone time talking business, with Lena dodging personal questions her brother brought up. Lionel and Lillian arrived exactly ten minutes before the dinner and to be honest, the dinner went by pretty smoothly, for a family so dysfunctional, at least. It all circled around future endeavors for L-Corp, with Lionel even asking Lena if she'd want to go back to Metropolis soon. In fact, she's considered doing just that, but really, she also do not see a reason to. 

She wouldn't be too happy about how smooth the meeting with her family was, considering she'd have to work with them at least until the Gala on Friday night. Her fingers were just crossed that they wouldn't be completely shitty when they come across her friends again 

When she got home, she's ‘finally’ texted Sara and told her she'd drop by at lunch. 

In which she did, bringing Sara all her favourite foods and hugging her ‘tight’ when she made it inside. She looked around the gym, having never been there since that day she first saw Kara, and on that note—

“Fuck you, Luthor. What's up?” Sara asked, although Lena was positive she cared more about the food that was now on her hand as she guided them both to her office. 

They sat down across from each other, Sara acting completely normal as expected. She wasn't the one to hold grudges against Lena whenever she took time for herself nor was she one to look at you with so much pity you'd hate being around her. No, Sara was the Captain of making you comfortable around her and just come around when you felt like you could, and Lena loved that. 

They first engaged themselves with some casual conversation, both digging in their foods until Lena was pulling the cards from her bag. “The real reason I'm here is this.”

Lena watched as Sara took the cards with her, having been in the previous Gala and not exactly having a nice time, she wasn't shocked why the Blonde doesn't look completely pleased with the invitation. 

“I know my mom's been an asshole to you guys but, please, come?” Lena said sheepishly, “It'd only be tolerable if you guys are there.”

Sara huffed, setting the invitations down but Lena knew that was her accepting it ‘and’ accepting to 'go'. She smiled, “Oh, and also, give those to the others too.”

Sara rolled her eyes, “Of course. You ignore me for two weeks and now you're giving me a responsibility that I didn't ask for. Thanks, Lena.”

She laughed, “Awe, who knew Sara Lance is so disgustingly needy? Don't worry, darling, I won't ghost you again.”

The girl made a gag noise, throwing a tissue to Lena's direction. “‘You're’ the disgusting one, Luthor.”

“Yeah, about being disgusting,” Lena said, placing her fork down. “Why'd you give my personal number to Kara Danvers?”

Sara looked confused at her, trying to recollect that memory, then she chuckled, “Oh, she looked like a lovesick puppy. I had to give in. What'd you want me to do though? Resist ‘that’? Impossible.”

Lena cringed, although she agreed, that woman was just too irresistible. Still— “What you had to do is not to give away my number to people, Lance.”

But all Sara did was dismissively wave her hands. “Oh, drop it. We both know you've got no problem with her having it. What'd you even talk about?”

“What?”

“Like, through text?” Sara deadpanned, “God, tell me you didn't block her.”

Lena paused, the realisation dawning on her. She tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, “Well, I didn't, but I didn't read any of them either.”

“Why?” Sara asked, “I thought you guys are friends now? Or something else? I mean, I saw you flirting at that bar…”

Lena fished her phone from her pocket, unlocking it and opening the Messaging app, seeing six texts from the number. 

“Go on, then invite her to the Gala.”

She looked up in panic, “What? Why would I do that?”

“Because… you're a kind person and you love making friends,” Sara reasoned, “Not to mention you've ghosted her too, it might make up for it?”

Lena paused for a second. She wasn't actually considering this, was she? Kara was a friend, sure. But she was also someone who made her want to do ‘things’ in public. Not to mention, she really wasn't sure how to act around the Blonde whenever people were watching. However, she would be lying if she said that Kara's presence wasn't comforting. 

At last, she gave up. “Fine.”

She clicked on the messages, the first three were from Sunday. 

‘Good evening, Miss Luthor.’

‘Just kidding, hey, Lena! I hope this isn't too weird? You said I had to earn your number but I guess I already did?’ with a devil emoji afterwards which made Lena think that Kara was trying too hard at this. 

‘Anyway, can't catch you anywhere so I thought I'd ask for your number. I hope you don't mind? I'm free tonight, by the way. It's my last night at a hotel so maybe… make the most out of it?’

Then the next ones were from monday night. 

‘Okay, sorry about last night. I'm still not sure how this thing works.’

‘You can tell me if I'm too pushy.’

‘Hope you're doing well!’

And the last one was from last night. 

It was a plain ‘Come over if you like. K.’ text with an address attached to it, and Lena took it as though Kara now had her own apartment settled. 

That last message assured Lena that this hookup wasn't anything more than just ‘that’ and that alone was an enough reason for her to not overthink Kara's presence on the Gala. 

With shaky hands, Lena typed. 

‘You free tonight? L.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got ‘too’ long for my usual word count so I had to split it. Continuation tomorrow. x


	11. 11: i'd rather call you out than no one call my phone

It was the day of the Gala. 

Spending the entire day with her family wasn't exactly ideal, but Lena was just holding on to the silver lining that was the fact that they'd be gone by Saturday morning and she wouldn't see them for at least maybe six more months. She had no plans to go ‘home’ for the holidays, especially considering that Star City was her home now. It has been for a while, and Lena found herself laughing at the idea of her considering going back to a City that held nothing for her. 

She was currently in her Limo, and even though the dress she was wearing was designed and made specifically for her, she felt it squeezing her entire ‘being’ and not being able to breathe properly. She was used to attending these kind of things, used to faking smiles and enthusiasm, used to making it seem like you cared about other people's bullshit when you just wanted to go home and cuddle with your cat. However, this was the first Gala hosted by the Luthors that Lena was attending without Kate by her side. 

When she still lived in Metropolis, she used to join her family to travel city after city where there was an extension of L-Corp. It stopped when she moved here, totally focused on her plans to establish the branch. During last year's first Gala held on Star City, her family met her friends which was just a complete disaster because, well, her friends weren't really one for such formal and — according to Charlie — boring with really expensive but weak alcohol servings. 

She almost stumbled even with the help of one of the Luthors trusted Butlers when she got out of the car. She thanked him, almost silently as she allowed the rest of the guards guide her inside. There were some journalists outside, some civilians, too. When Lillian hosted an event, it meant that everyone knew of it. God, Lena wouldn't be surprised if she even started a hashtag for it to trend on Twitter. Her mother was that much of a publicity leech. In fact, Lena was expecting everyone tonight. Sure, she had given her the liberty to list people she wanted to invite, but she still knew that her Mother would add way ‘more’ to that. 

People like their business associates, old colleagues even those they weren't on good terms with anymore, politicians, celebrities, and heck, even their business competitors. If anything, Lena was expecting to see Andrea for the first time in over two weeks tonight. Lillian had never been fond of her, even with her billion dollar fortune, but it was a guarantee that Lillian would still invite her — solely for publicity. 

Her entire family were already welcoming everyone when she made it inside and she could just see the daggers on Lillian's eyes, although she actually didn't mind. She knew she was rather tardy, but only because she really thought twice about going. She's sat on the makeup chair until her bottom hurt, finally deciding to give up and ‘go,’ part of the reason was because well, she's forced her friends to come just for her to bail on them? That just wasn't nice.

She stood next to Lex after giving her parents hugs and kisses on the cheek respectively. A few minutes into posing for some pictures, shaking hands, and starting conversations, Lena was already ‘so’ done. Luckily for her, she doesn't have any important role on the event. Lionel would be the one doing the remarks and Lex on the auction. Everything would be fine, she thought. 

At some point, they decided to split so they could speak to more people at the same time and Lena eagerly removed her grip from Lex's arms and took off immediately. What she did first, however, was to look around for her friends, literally anyone she knew that she was comfortable with. Just a little saving grace. 

Her heart jumped — in a bad way — when she caught sight of Andrea and her other assistant hot behind her tail, whilst her other assistant came to Lena's view as well. And thank ‘God’, she wasn't there as Andrea's assistant but as Lena's guest instead. 

“Kara,” Lena said, basically rushing to her direction and turning her around, just so Kara would be facing Andrea's direction. “I'm glad you made it,” she said, way more calm this time when Kara narrowed her eyes. 

“Missed me that much already, Luthor?”

Lena rolled her eyes, “Rule number three.”

“No flirting in public, got it.”

“Good girl,” Lena commented, biting her lips, closing their distance casually like she had no ulterior motive, which she had: To smell that perfume Kara was wearing from a much closer distance. It wasn't the first time Lena has seen her in a formal dress, not to mention without her glasses and with her hair all nice and done. But this time, Kara looked like she really prepared for it and damn does she look ‘good.’

“You know, I should've just said yes to Andrea when she asked if I could work tonight,” Kara chuckled, nudging Lena. “Considering she'll just be here anyway.”

When Lena arrived at Kara's apartment that night, she told her eventually about the Gala. For one, Kara was skeptical, saying she did not belong in that crowd. However, Lena managed to convince her and even force her to take the night off when Andrea asked her to accompany her for something the same night. Apparently, they were going to the same event after all. 

“Would you rather be by her side or by mine?” Lena asked instead, scooching closer that she might be breaking her own rules. 

Kara said nothing at first, then for some reason, Lena felt herself blushing that she felt the need to look away when Kara checked her out with absolute no shame. The blonde chuckled, “You don't look too bad.”

Lena huffed, “You too. Thank Goodness you finally figured out what soaps and shampoos are.”

Kara's chuckles rang through her ear and she found herself staring, only breaking away when Sara Lance's voice rang just right next to her. There she was, together with Charlie, Zari, Nate, and Ray and Nora who co-owned PalmerTech, one of L-Corp's biggest competitors. To Lillian's defense, Lena invited them herself, but she guessed that if she hadn't, Lillian would do it as well. 

She couldn't help but notice how easily Kara has fitted in with her friend group. The girl was awkward, yes, but she was an amazing conversationalist, not to mention she had this thing with her that just made you feel warm — this thing that terrified Lena sometimes. It was so comforting, and to be honest, it felt good to feel that from other people aside from Sara, Sam, and She-who-musn't-be-named (Beth, you're welcome).

Lena didn't notice that she hadn't moved since they all started conversing, and a few minutes more, the event would officially start. She cursed under her breath, looking around to find Lillian coming to their direction. She shifted on her one foot to another, leaning down to Sara, “Here she comes.”

“Who? The Devil?” Sara asked,

“Sara, we've established that Nora's father is the Devil, not Lena's mom,” Nate butted in, deadpanning and making everyone chuckle, even Nora. 

“Whatever, all billionaires are evil,” Sara waved her hand, her eyes flickering to those she knew would react.

“Hey!” Lena and Ray said in unison, making the both of them laugh afterward, Lena's eyes flicking to Kara's direction on her left. 

“Oh, here she comes,” Zari warned them, straightening the way she stood, just when Lillian stopped on their group, giving everyone — especially Sara — a rehearsed smile. 

“Lena, dear, your friends will not go away,” Lillian addressed her, “Go mingle with the others. I can accompany these lovely people for you.”

Lena could hear Charlie cough awkwardly next to Sara, whilst the latter muttered a quiet, “No, you actually can't,” under hear breath.

She looked back and forth to everyone and she could almost understand that the look Sara was giving her was “Please don't leave us with this Devil! She'll take us to hell, you'll never see us ever again!” 

“Go, Lena,” Lillian pushed, “Besides, I think I've met all of them.”

“Not me, you haven't,” Kara suddenly said, making Lena's eyes widen. 

True, Kara had been the one standing between Lillian and Lena, yet the older Luthor didn't seem to even notice the stunning Blonde. Lena looked away, not wanting to see her Mother criticise Kara from head to toe. She knew how intimidating her Mother could be, especially for someone who claimed to not be exposed with this kind of event, with this kind of people.

“Who must you be, then?” Lillian asked, her voice surprisingly more calm. 

“Kara Danvers, Ma'am,” Kara said and Lena had to look back to actually ‘watch’ the interaction, seeing Lillian ‘taking’ Kara's hand and shaking it. 

She shared a look with Sara and Charlie, who both has whined about how ‘fuckin rude’ Lillian had been when they offered their hands to her last year. In short, Lillian had been really rude to all of them without Lena's — who was conversing with other guests — presence that she didn't even ‘shake’ their hands. That was unusual, really, considering the good reputation she wanted to maintain. 

“Kara Danvers,” Lillian repeated, taking her own hand back and gracefully letting it hold the other on her front. “From CatCo?”

Lena had to make sure she heard that correctly, because was she the only who hadn't heard of Kara until that encounter at the Gym? Apparently. 

Kara smiled proudly and Lena could almost feel her pride vibrating through her entire posture. “Previously, yes.”

“Hmm,” Lillian hummed, nodding in response before turning to Lena. “She's interviewed Miss Arias when she took over our National City Branch. That article was amazingly done,” she paused, eyeing Kara, “Nice work.”

Once again, Lena couldn't believe her eyes ‘and’ ears. Did Lillian — her Mother who absolutely hated everything and everyone other than Lex — just complimented Kara Danvers? In a really genuine manner? In front of everyone? 

Was the world ending?

If she hadn't been willing to leave earlier, she was now. So then Lena nodded to her Mother, saying that she'd greet other people, avoiding Sara's gaze as she took off. Kara was the last person she looked at, winking at her passively. 

She merged in different conversations since then, pretending to be interested on some CEO dramas the others were bringing up, some even gossiping about the celebrities who decided to show up wearing rather provocative clothes tonight. The hardest part, for Lena, was to keep herself from correcting egoistic scientists who talked as though they knew everything. All Lena could do was to think ‘Wrong, you're fucking wrong,’ over and over in her head as she listened to the theories and badly executed experimentations that were being discussed. 

Sometime later, Lionel was done with the acknowledgements and the others were done with the speeches. It was time for food and a little bit of an entertainment. Lena made her way back to where she left her friends on, seeing that they were now seated and didn't look as bored as she'd initially expected. When she didn't see Kara anywhere around the table, she frowned, looking around. 

When she ‘did’ see her, she almost panicked, not for herself, but for the Blonde who looked like she was going to pass out any minute now. She was standing on the far left corner near the stage, Mike standing in front of her, saying something. For some reason, she felt the same thing she did the first time she's caught this exact scenario: Girls Etiquette.

Save the fucking girl.

Possibly fuck her too. 

No, that wasn't part of it. 

She was still contemplating whether to jump in or not when she saw someone else approaching the two. It was Imra, and Lena panicked, for herself this time. ‘Fuck it,’ she thought, pushing past the crowd and giving everyone a smile. She doesn't even care how fake the smiles looked at this time of the night. All she cared about was making there before—

Okay, well, Imra's already made it and ‘kissed’ Mike in front of Kara who looked away frantically. Lena could feel herself feeling stupid because of what she was about to do, but it was an Etiquette, a sworn duty that a really dramatic eighteen-year-old version of her has signed — literally, Sam made the two of them sign something that stated them saving girls with boy problems — all those years ago. 

Kara met her gaze when she was only a few feet away, giving her a look she knew wasn't a “Help me,” but a “Stay away, I got this!”. However, Lena's made up her mind and a Luthor was a lot of things, someone who backs down wasn't one of those. 

Mike spotted her next, when she was already smiling, sliding next to Kara. 

“Hey there,” she greeted nonchalantly, so informal for people she wasn't friends with but that might just do the trick. 

Mike looked like he's recognised her, while Kara—well, Lena wasn't paying any attention to her reaction at the moment. Lastly, Imra looked at her with her usual cheerful manner.

“Miss Luthor!” Imra greeted her, greeting her with a cheek-to-cheek before turning to Mike. “This is—”

“Oh, I know who he is,” Lena said, cutting the woman off. She felt bad, really, Imra was gorgeous. She wondered how such a scumbag could bag such lovely women. “Right?”

She could see Mike shift on his feet uncomfortably. “Uh, yeah, we've met… once.”

“Really?” Imra asked, looking back and forth to the two of them, before turning to Kara, then to Mike again. “It looks like you've met a lot of people here already.”

‘Wait, what?’ Lena thought. Did she just implied that Mike and Kara had just met each other?

“It looks like you don't know much about him,” Lena said, her smile too innocent, trying to only focus on Imra's reaction instead of the other two's. 

“Excuse me?”

“Well, when I first met him—”

She was cut off with Kara gently placing a hand on her forearm, “Enjoy your night, Imra... Mike,” she said, “If you'll excuse us.”

Before Lena knew it, she was being dragged towards the hallway. Kara was walking fast and she found it hard to keep up. Thankfully, the grip on her forearm was gentle and the Blonde wasn't really hurting her in any way. But still—

“Why'd you do that?” Kara asked when they were finally isolated, letting go of the contact and looking down at Lena with ‘this’ expression on her face that for some reason had intimidated Lena. 

Her voice was cold, too. It wasn't a tone Lena wasn't used to, but right now it was, because she's never heard it from Kara. She tried to shake off her shock with a joke, “Well, you're welcome, Danvers.”

“I'm not joking, Lena.”

She said that so impatiently and Lena couldn't help but remember the only times she's been impatient with her which was—well, it wasn't really the time for these ‘thoughts’. Lena huffed, “What did you want me to do? Watch?”

“Nothing,” Kara said firmly, “I wanted you to do nothing. I had it.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I'm serious.”

Lena snorted, “Yeah, you've said that.”

This time, Kara only looked at her and she ‘actually’ looked pissed. True, Lena didn't expect her to be grateful with her butting in like that, but she also didn't expect ‘this’. To her, it was an overreaction. 

“Rule number two,” Kara said, “Do not interfere with personal matters.”

Rolling her eyes, Lena spoke, “I would do what's right no matter the circumstances, Danvers. To save your ass there is a courtesy, nothing else. Remember why we even met? Why are you so angry?”

“Because you don't understand the situation and you don't know ‘me’, okay?” Kara pressed, her voice shaking from anger, almost shouting. “That man cheated on me with that woman and now he introduced me as someone he's just met tonight. Me, the person he moved here with. Do you know what that feels like? No, you don't! Stop acting like we're the best of friends, we're only fucking, aren't we?”

“Yeah?” Lena said calmly, letting Kara's words just flow through her ears, unbothered. “Be mad at him, not at me. Don't be a fucking child.”

Kara opened her mouth for a rebuttal, but closed it again. All Lena could do was let out a sigh, one that showed her disappointment. “You're right,” she continued, “I don't know you, but you don't know me either.”

The blonde watched her, her breathing going back to normal. To be honest, she looked like she had just been slapped across the face, and now she was realising the she really shouldn't be lashing out on Lena. But Lena was ‘over’ the narrative, Kara has to hear this. 

“You don't know that I ‘do’ understand,” Lena said sadly, “Kate cheated on me with Sophie for six months, then the day after we broke up, they added Julia to the relationship. Her reason? She knew I wouldn't want a polyamorous relationship so she just did it behind my back, not even telling me she's into that. She broke up with me using a different reason and kept this from me for ‘months’. The worst part? Some of our friends knew all about it. Do you know how that feels?”

Lena wasn't sure what she was pointing out, nor was she sure why she was even telling Kara this. She's never said this out loud, in fact, she refused to even think about this since Kate had confessed. For some reason, right now, Lena could confirm that she was angry more than she was hurt with what happened. It was great to say things out loud, after all. 

“You're not the only person who's been treated like shit, Danvers,” Lena chuckled bitterly, her voice still low and calm. “And, yes, we're just fucking so you have no right to raise your voice at me like that. Have a nice night.”

Lena turned back before Kara could even respond. As usual, she felt embarrassed for over sharing like that, but somehow she felt like someone like Kara has to hear it. She couldn't blame Kara for lashing out, but she could validate her hurt, in a way that she knew. However, she wouldn't tolerate that disrespect and maybe that would just do the trick to knock some senses back to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is still longer than I liked. Lol. Full context on Kate-Lena and Kara-Mike breakups soon. 
> 
> PS: I do not shame Kate for engaging in a polyamorous relationship. However, that shit involves consent from ‘all’ your partners. Your partner has to know you practice polyamory You can't go having relationship with people who knows nothing about the others. It has to be done right, my friends.


	12. 12: we f-ck and makeup like it's maybelline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked why I keep doing ‘this’. It's because I'm using the normal format (because I'm lazy) and can't italicized words. It's the only way for me to be dramatic with over-emphasizing things. Fun fact: My Creative Writing Professor used to call me out for italicizing unnecessary words, said it's very distracting. If they're annoying, I apologise but not really. Lol!

Rule number 1: No expectations. 

Lena does not want to be a much bigger hypocrite that she already was, but somehow, she had no control over it. They agreed not to flirt on public (rule number 3) and oh, they ‘clearly’ did. They also agreed not to interfere in each other's personal lives (rule number 2) and she did that too, she realised it now. Lastly, they agreed not to have any kind of expectations from each other (rule number 1), not in any way, even the simplest ones. But here she was. 

She was the one who came up with these rather silly rules whilst they were occupied with something else entirely that night on Kara's new apartment. Somehow, it just came to Lena. She wasn't one to risk things without a guarantee, she wasn't one to play a game without a headstart. When she was hooking up with Andrea, there were set of rules ‘both’ of them stated that they had to follow. Somehow, setting those rules saved the both of them from being exposed to more unnecessary dramas — aside from the fact that Lena doesn't wanna see Andrea anymore, for some reason she just felt embarrassed being around her. 

Lena had expected Kara to approach her again during the Gala, but she didn't. She expected Kara to text her first thing in the next morning about it, but she didn't. She wasn't sure why exactly she was so pumped to speak with the Blonde again, but with much deeper thinking, Lena realised that she really must not have interfered like that. Sure, Kara probably needed to hear what she had to say before they part and Kara really overreacted with how she spoke with Lena. Still, the CEO knew there was an error to her part. 

She kept telling herself that it was a courtesy, that it was part of the Etiquette she lived by, but deep down, she knew it ‘wasn't.’ The sight of Kara looking completely defeated as Mike and Imra does ‘that’ in front of her, was just too much for Lena. When that happened, she only had this idea that Mike cheated on her, and she was right. She still didn't know the entire story, but all she knew was that that guy was a complete jerk. 

When Eve knocked and poked her head inside Lena's office during lunch break, telling her someone was there to see her, Lena's heart suddenly started to beat faster. ‘Was Kara there to see her?’

“Who is it?”

“It's Miss Ardeen from the LEGION Games, Ma'am,” Eve said, “Should I let her in?”

Lena gulped, and in this moment, she knew she messed up. She shouldn't be entering herself in situations that doesn't actually involved her. For God's sake, she and Kara were barely friends. And now? Now, she got Imra involved — although she already was, she just didn't know — and she ruined the piece of mind of a girl who probably thought she was dating a goddamn Saint. Once again, she wasn't in the place to tell Imra what she knew. But, truly, does she have a choice?

“Okay, yes. Let her in,” Lena said with a smile, closing her computer and pushing the lunch she didn't even open to the side. She smiled as Imra entered her office, her entire demeanor different from what Lena was used to seeing her. 

“Miss Luthor,” Imra greeted, shaking Lena's hands as the latter gestured her to sit down after. “Sorry to barge in like this.”

“No, it's fine,” Lena said, clearing her throat, “It's my lunch break, anyway.”

“Oh, now it's even more rude,” Imra chuckled, tucking strands of her hair behind her ear and Lena gulped. 

This woman was breathtaking. Mike really knew what he was doing, he's got taste. It was just such a shame he couldn't treat these amazing women the way they should be treated. 

“It's really not a big deal,” Lena pressed, placing both of her hands on the table to look Imra directly in the eye. “So, I'm guessing this is about last night?”

The woman on the other side of the table let out a nervous chuckle. “I know we only know each other through our businesses and I really didn't want to bother you with this but… last night, you said something about how you met Mike? And something else before that…”

It was Lena's turn to chuckle nervously. “I—I really regret saying anything, it wasn't really nice and proper. I suppose you should ask him about it.”

“I did,” Imra said with a nod, “He said he met you when he was sent here from LEGION, but somehow I don't believe it and… I feel bad, I never doubted him until… what you said.”

Lena shifted on her seat, her heel repeatedly tapping against the marble floor. There was a lot to unpack there: 1. The Job offer Mike had was for LEGION Games, the top gaming developer in the entirety of the United States of America. No wonder he left National City to take that job and no wonder why Kara had been so supportive that she agreed to move here with him. 2. Mike has lied about how they actually met. Of course, he did. 

“Imra, listen,” she said, gathering her thoughts because if Kara hadn't attacked Imra after she found out what Mike did, Lena knew that she shouldn't either. There was a reason why Kara didn't do it and she really shouldn't mess this up too, again. “We've only known each other for a while, but I do know you're an amazing woman. I'm sorry if what I did has bothered you this much, I want you to know that it wasn't my intention.”

“And?”

“And I wasn't really thinking when I said what I said. I know something, but it isn't my place to tell because I don't know the entire story,” she said truthfully, “and because I have no right to be involved. Ask your boyfriend again, I guess. I'm sorry if I'm no help.”

Whatever she said didn't seem to calm Imra in any way, but after speaking, the other woman nodded in understanding. “I understand,” she said, standing up. “Thank you for your time, Miss Luthor. And please, this is an enough help.”

Lena nodded, “You can call me Lena.”

All the tension Lena's shoulders were holding has gone away after the encounter and the rest of her day came by smoothly. Meetings after meetings, Lena came back to her office at almost six in the evening. Now that she was alone again, she couldn't help but think back to the mess she made. Perhaps she should give Kara a heads up about it? Or — hear this — perhaps she should apologise to Kara as well because Lena Luthor wasn't always right, apparently. 

She fished her phone from her bag as she made her way down, her assistant following close behind her because she's always insisted to stay until Lena was off as well. Lena opened her phone to see that Kara has beat her to messaging first. It was from a five minutes ago. 

‘Lena, hey. I just got out from the office and I was wondering if I could drop by your place? To talk? About last night, if you want. Text me.’

As she said goodbye to Eve, she slid in her car with her driver already had it open for her. Lena sent a quick text to Kara as she instructed the driver to drive to a different way. Kara's apartment was closer to L-Corp, after all. 

‘No need. I'm on my way to yours. See you, Danvers.’

All it took was five minutes until Lena was getting out from the car, instructing her driver to just come back when — or if — she text him. She received an another message from Kara, saying that she was also just on her way to her home and that they should meet at the lobby. 

And there Kara was, entering the building just as the same time as Lena rounded on the corner. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't call for the Blonde. Instead, she followed and kept her distance, waiting until Kara looked back herself.

Somehow, she felt like a stalker, but oh, Kara was insanely attractive even from the back. The arch of her waist to her hips, those broad shoulders which definitions made more clearer by the shirt she was wearing, long legs Lena could brag about knowing what it was like feeling, and hair that looked like couldn't be messed even by a freaking tornado. Lena sometimes wonder why Kara's hair looked perfect, ‘even’ in the morning and—

‘Holy shit’, she thought when Kara turned around, Lena's theory about her hair always being perfect was suddenly proven right. Kara turned around in such a slow motion — in Lena's mind, at least — her hair being blown but not messed by the wind, sending them from one side of her shoulder to the other. 

Lena smiled when their eyes met and suddenly she forgot why she was here. Suddenly, she wanted to do something else entirely. 

“Lena, why didn't you call me?” Kara asked when she made it right in front of her. 

Shrugging, Lena moved past her and lead them to the elevator. She's only been here once but of course, knew her way. “Let's take this to your place.”

Her tone came off as… a little too sexual for her liking. But hell, she couldn't help it that she wouldn't even look directly at Kara during the ride, making it a little awkward but Lena knew she wasn't tripping — the sexual tension inside the elevator was way too thick, it almost made her want to kiss Kara right there and then, if only an another person didn't enter a few floors up. 

If Lena could still control herself even when Kara reached out to unlock her door, the tension on her forearms causing such a huge flex on her muscles that made Lena almost wanna risk it all. Almost.

But, well, all these self-control were gone when Kara removed the first layer of her clothing when they made it inside. Lena aggressively grabbed the jacket even before Kara could hung it, the other hand busy grabbing the Blonde's cheek, travelling toward the back of her neck, their lips connecting. 

Lena doesn't want to admit it, but every time they kissed, it felt ‘so’ right. With Andrea, there was a tiny bit of guilt and uncertainty even when she was her most sexual self. But with Kara, it was almost like second nature. Like she just ‘couldn't’ control herself even if she wanted to and it also helped that Kara was the same way too. And, hell, the ‘feeling’ it brought whenever one's hand was on the other. It was too much, too real, too powerful that it ‘almost’ scared Lena. 

It didn't take long until it was Kara who was taking the lead, blindly stealing the piece of clothing from Lena and throwing it somewhere as they both walked, mouths not disconnecting. One of her hands was on Lena's small back, the other on her side, enough to guide her where she wanted her to be.

Lena gasped when Kara gently slammed her back against a wall after entering the living room, tongue slipping cautiously, asking for permission. One of her hands traveled from Lena's sides toward the smallest of her breast. Lena gasped once more when Kara squeezed it, the entrance on her mouth allowing the tongue to get involved. 

When Kara squeezed again, it took every ounce of Lena not to ask her to just ‘do it’. Her own hands traveled down, feeling every stroke, every single curve of the Blonde's body, until she reached her bottom. Her hand squeezed on the side of Kara's ass, catching her off guard. They both chuckled, with Kara disconnecting from the kiss, only to travel down to the side of her jaw, slowly making it down her neck, leaving the tiniest bites that were enough to send sensation down Lena's spine, but wasn't enough to leave any marks. 

When Lena thought Kara was going to take it far already, she was proven wrong. The touch lingered everywhere, like she had been touched in every inch, from her head to toe. She opened her eyes, seeing Kara just right in front of her, looking at her in a way she couldn't read. She didn't look like her usual self whenever they did ‘things’, no, she looked more gentle, and maybe Lena liked it more. 

“Maybe we should talk first?”

Lena watched as Kara took some steps back. This wasn't how she expected this night to go down, but well, ‘that’ was an amazing ice-breaker and Lena could feel like she could joke around again. And so she did, “What? No angry sex?”

Kara snorted, gently scratching her jaw. “I'm not angry, so just sex.”

Lena rolled her eyes, “I figured.”

“What?”

“You slammed me so gently, like you've gone completely soft,” Lena continued to tease, because being slammed like ‘that’ felt nice, she liked it, and maybe mentioning it like this would make Kara do it again — which wasn't the point!!

Kara was rolling her eyes, leading the both of them to the couch. “Do you need something to drink? Have you eaten? I can prepare something…”

She was asking this in such an innocent manner that Lena almost wanted to slap herself for thinking of it as something sexual. “No, I'd rather this be over already so we can carry on with… what we were doing.”

“And we were doing what, exactly?” Kara asked, using the same tone she used as she sat on the other end of the couch, Lena on the other. 

“We weren't doing ‘anything’ yet, which was the problem,” Lena answered, crossing her legs, her foot kicking Kara's calves ever-so-gently.

“Well, we can change that,” she said, sliding her fingers down Lena's exposed legs which made her gasp. 

She straightened herself, undoing the cross-legs. God, that didn't help. Kara's touch just made her not want to just ‘talk’ anymore, but deep down she knew they should. “Okay, let's get this over with then.”

Kara chuckled, scooting closer. “Alright,” she started, her tone a lot more serious now as their eyes met, no humour in them. “First, I wanna apologise for going off like that. You're not the one I should've been angry at, you were just trying to help.”

“Okay, stop.”

“What?”

“I'm sorry, Kara,” Lena said, the words coming from her mouth easier than she expected. “I keep telling myself it's part of the Etiquette but it's not. You're not a stranger that's needed saving, I knew you had it under control but I still interfered. And worse, I said some things I regret.”

“What? Lena, no,” Kara said frantically, reaching out to touch Lena's hand. 

Although it fazed her, she didn't show it. All of their touches so far were only consisted of lust, this one was different and she didn't know what to make of it. 

“You did what you thought was right. You're my friend. If any of my friends saw that, they'd do the same,” Kara reasoned, “I understand why you did it.”

“It still doesn't make it right,” Lena laughed bitterly, biting her lips when Kara didn't answer right away. 

“Let's move past it, then,” Kara said nonchalantly, like it didn't matter anymore just like that. “Last night, we both claimed that we didn't know each other that well still… and I think we can fix that.”

Lena just stared at Kara. 'What was she suggesting?'

“We also revealed informations that I would very much like to pry on,” Kara laughed, removing her hand from Lena, so slowly that Lena wanted to just grab it back herself. “But I figured that we should get past the first stage of getting to know each other before discussing personal things… if, and only if, you want to.”

Once again, Lena didn't know what to say. What was Kara even suggesting? Was she talking about ‘dates’? If so, was she talking about friendly ones? Or more than that? 

Suddenly, Lena felt like she'd have a panic attack, just thinking about strings. But, well, why would Kara want that anyway? They were just having fun, distracting each other. If they want to make whatever this was work, they should know at least a little bit about themselves to avoid circumstances like last night. Lena shouldn't be reading much into this. 

After all, Rule Number 1: No Expectations. 

She still wasn't sure how to respond, so then she thought of something — anything — to bring up in order to change the subject. 

“We have an another problem, actually,” she said instead, remembering what happened at Lunch — the entire reason she realised how bad she messed up.

It may not have been Lena's place to tell, but it was Kara's. Both of these women deserved better, and maybe she should be able to help. Imra deserved to know, and by the looks of it, Mike would just continue to lie in front of her face. So then pushing her little panic moment at the back of her head, Lena brought it up.

“What is it?”

“Imra came to see me earlier.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't wanna write really explicit scenes here, but maybe y'all can get even the tiniest details of making out. Lol.
> 
> Thanks for reading this little Project of mine, we're only about to approach our halfway mark, I think. I'll stop with the notes unless they're necessary from now on. x 
> 
> twitter.com/LGBTlTS


	13. 13: you got me hooked up on the feeling

Lena decided she'd be more careful around Kara since that night. 

She shouldn't have expectations, but she couldn't help it so instead, she decided that she should at least apply some precautions. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't allow herself to get ‘too’ personal with Kara. In fact, she's said this their second night together — which only made her wonder why Kara even wanted to ‘get to know her better.’ True, maybe it was to avoid conflicts. But, truly, that wasn't needed. 

She spent her time with Andrea hating her but still having the ‘best’ time. But then again, these were two completely different persons who knew her in a complete different ways. Kara was new to her life, she didn't know her the same way Andrea did. 

In the end, Lena decided she'd distance herself more, realising that she was being rather way too comfortable. So what she did was she left before Kara could wake up that morning after that conversation, then again on the next, then on the next. 

She also refused Kara's invitations to meet up during day time. It didn't make sense and it wasn't necessary, so Lena decided against it. 

During that night, Lena told Kara what Imra has told her, and maybe she's also convinced Kara to just tell Imra all about it. Judging by the way she's known that woman, Imra wasn't one to not believe a woman just because she loved the man. If anything, Lena was sure she'd appreciate if Kara gave her the true back story. 

That very next day, Kara texted her about two things: Why she left before the morning and what could she do to approach Imra. 

Lena didn't give any real reason for the first question and continued to do it again until Kara didn't question it anymore. Regarding the second question, Lena volunteered to contact Imra herself to get her to meetup with Kara, but the Blonde said she would take care of it but she thanked her anyway.

She was sure that Kara noticed her being distant, and she was hoping it would send a clear message to her. They fell to this routine of Kara texting Lena just for a hookup, whether on Lena's place or Kara's. They stopped talking about anything else and somehow it aided Lena, somehow it bothered her. 

But it wasn't supposed to matter. She's got much bigger problems, like how she has been ignoring Beth's text messages since ‘that’ night. It didn't matter, she thought. She was still angry about that, about Kate, and about everyone on Gotham who hid the truth from her. It was when it occured to her that Kara was really a much needed distraction that she's gotten used to having around to the point that it felt ‘weird’ not to. 

So then, for the first time in over two weeks, she was the one who asked Kara if she could come over and not the other way around. Instead of receiving a confirmation text — because that was how automated things has felt between the two of them — Kara called her instead. She tensed at first because (1) she hated phone calls, only Sam does this through her personal phone and (2) what in ‘hell’ would she say to the woman she's been trying to stop getting personal with?

Having no other choice, Lena picked up and slid over the screen to answer. “Kara?”

“Lena, hey!” the Blonde said from the other line and Lena could hear the street's noise through it. “Listen, I need your help.”

“About what?”

“About Imra, we're just meeting tonight and… I don't know, what if she don't believe me?” Kara rushed on the other side, her voice almost muffled. “I think that if you're there to back me up, then it'd be easier.”

The idea wasn't so appealing, but Lena found herself smirking. “Why? Do you remember the last time I tried helping you?”

She could hear Kara snort, “It's gonna be different. Mike's not around this time, and if he is, then I'm giving you permission to beat him up.”

“Only if you'd give him a punch or two.”

“Make it three,” Kara chuckled, “So we have a deal?”

“Send me when and where,” Lena said with a sigh because, well, what could she lose? “I'll be there, Danvers.”

-

Lena was late. No, she was ‘on’ time, but that was her being late, according to the Luthor Vocabulary.

It was the first time Lena was going to see Kara out again in public and ironically, it was also where they actually hung out for the first time — the bar she took Sam on that day she brought Kara with her. It seemed like such a long time ago, but Lena was sure it has only been over a month. It was crazy to her, knowing that even though Kara was still practically a stranger to her, she wasn't at all. 

She fished her phone out of her purse to ask where Kara was, just when she received a text from the person in question, saying, ‘VIP, far left corner from entrance.’

Lena push past the throngs of drunken strangers, adults and adults-at-heart alike, and made her way up to the VIP Lounge. Once she was there, she wasn't asked to show her I.D yet again, because she has been here too many times for her liking. What shocked her, however, was the fact that when she came and looked toward the direction Kara told her to go to, there was only one person on the table, and it was Kara. 

It didn't look like she just got here, in fact, the bottles of beer in front of her were enough to prove that she has been drinking probably hours prior. With furrowed eyebrows, Lena walked toward the Blonde, not bothering to get herself a drink because that really wasn't what she came here for. As she made her way closer, she noticed a half-empty glass of Gin and Tonic that still had a little ice floating on it across Kara, which meant that someone else had been there, not too long ago.

Clearing her throat when she was beside the table, Lena spoke, “Am I late?”

Kara looked up, trying her best to look cheerful with that cheeky smile. “Nah, we were just early.”

Lena was taken aback by Kara's appearance. No, she didn't look awful, but she looked ‘different.’ She has seen her drunk before, but not like this. Slowly, Lena positioned herself on the seat in front of Kara, pushing away the half-empty glass. “So how'd it go?”

“Mike showed up,” Kara said with a smirk, grabbing the bottle and that was when Lena noticed the tiny bruise — and was that ‘blood’? — in it, despite the dim lights. “I gave him a single punch. Didn't make the quota, sorry.”

“Kara, what the hell?” Lena said, almost out of panic that she didn't think twice when she reached to touch Kara's hand. When she did, she noticed only a few scratches and what looked like something that'd bruise for a few days. 

Kara was looking at her when she looked up, making her let go of the hand abruptly, blushing. “Why'd you do that? And why weren't you kicked out?”

Kara laughed, bringing the mouth of the bottle to her lips, chugging. “For the second question: Because the Manager likes me, she works for Obsidian and we're friendly. For the first: He showed up randomly when Imra and I were talking, made a scene and called me a liar, then tried to drag Imra away.”

That was ‘a lot’ of narration to picture at once and Lena found herself wincing. Kara was saying these words in such a light-hearted manner that she was almost thinking that she was fooling around. But then, why would she?

“Imra demanded him to let go of her, but he refused,” Kara continued, kicking Lena's foot gently underneath the table with a smirk. “So then I had to interfere. You know? Girls Etiquette.”

Lena was looking at Kara with wide eyes. “You thought Girls Etiquette involves bloodshed?”

The Blonde laughed, “No, but we had a deal, remember? I was supposed to give him three punches.”

“That deal was a joke, Kara.”

Kara nodded, “Are all your deals just jokes?”

“What?” Lena asked, her heart beating fast. What 'deal' could she be talking about other than ‘this’ between them? 

“Nevermind,” Kara laughed, “Do you want a drink? On me.”

Rolling her eyes, Lena shook her head, “No, and I think you should go home.”

“It's 10pm.”

“You're drunk.”

“You told me you liked me better when drunk.”

True, she ‘did’ say that, but that was on bed. “Not when you smell like beer.”

Kara chuckled, reaching out to grab Lena's hands, a gesture she allowed to be performed. The blonde drew patterns on her palms with her fingers, smiling the entire time. Lena wasn't sure why — but maybe it was ‘that’ smile Kara was making — but she didn't take her hands back, no matter how cheesy it looked. 

“I used to do this to Mike all the time, he said it makes him horny.”

Lena coughed loudly, taking her hands back after yanking Kara's away. “I didn't need to know that.”

“He said the nails does the trick.”

“Well, now you don't have nails.”

“Thanks to you.”

Lena snorted, remembering the first night she spent with Kara. The Blonde's fingernails weren't that long, but it was bothersome that she had to make a comment about it. The next night when she saw Kara at the fight, she eventually noticed how she cleaned up her fingernails, all of them polished and no longer a bother. Lena found it endearing, but she never admitted that out loud. Because to be honest, it would've been really weird if she did.

“So…” Lena started, thinking that there was no harm on asking. “How does it feel?”

“How does ‘what’ feel?”

“Punching your ex,” Lena deadpanned with a shrug. 

Kara smirked, “It's liberating. I realised I've been wanting to do it.”

She nudged her, “I never pegged you as one for violence.”

“There's a lot of things you don't know about me,” Kara answered, the smile not fading in such a firm tone that it almost sounded like a challenge and made Lena gulp — albeit not heard from across the table. 

Wanting to take away the conversation from ‘that’, Lena asked, “How long were you two together?”

“Too long that I forgot how to be my own person,” Kara chuckled bitterly, “Too long that as I've told you, I've seen it coming. I knew it wasn't working even back home, I knew it was going to end sooner or later.”

“But?”

“But I still moved here with him,” Kara said, “I still held on to the years we've spent together, hoping that somehow we can go back to how it used to be. I thought that I cannot just waste those years by throwing away the relationship. But, really, things change. You can't force shit, you ‘do not’ force shit.”

Kara Danvers was drunk and she was slurring, her words almost muffled, but Lena understood them just fine — if you take her effort of leaning over just to hear her closely to consideration.

She found her heart aching for Kara because, really, she understood. She understood that feeling so well. She left Metropolis for Gotham for Kate, even when she knew something was incredibly off. She held on to the years, to the memories, even when the feelings were already questionable. 

“But you know what I learned?” Kara asked, smiling so big like some kid on Kindergarten who wanted to share what she learned on her first day to her parents. 

Lena wasn't sure how to match the enthusiasm, but she asked anyway, “Do share.”

“That time doesn't matter,” Kara answered with pride, “It doesn't matter how long you've known a person, it doesn't matter how much time you've shared with them. I realised that… some things, even those you only have for such a short period of time, can mean more than that thing you have all your life… or something.”

She ended that sentence with a giggle that Lena couldn't help but smile at. Kara was drunk and was blabbering, but what she was saying made sense. 

“Time sometimes tricks us to thinking that we're still in love with a person,” she continued, “We mistake regret with love, and it shouldn't be like that.”

Lena chuckled, noticing how hard Kara was fighting to stay awake. “Okay, love expert. Now let's take you home.”

She was already standing when Kara spoke again, “Wait, Lena.”

Lena paused, looking at Kara as she waited for her to say what she was going to say. 

“I just want you to know that you're pretty fucking cool, you should know that. And I also love spending time with you.”

She was caught off guard by the confession and she found herself just standing there, looking at Kara with a bewildered expression. The Blonde walked closer to her, the smile unfading, “So don't avoid me ever again.”

“What?” Lena asked, “I'm not—”

Kara's index finger was on her lip in an instant, sending shivers down her entire body, like she had just been awaken from a deep slumber, like she just had tasted water after a long period of drought, like she's fallen from a twenty-storey building and was caught immediately, in a halt. 

Her companion smirked at her, “I know you are avoiding me. But it's okay, just apologise.”

She opened her mouth to speak, and on some normal circumstances, she would call someone out for commanding her like ‘that’. But this was Kara, a drunk Kara, with that flirty tone way too familiar for her now, telling her to do something. She couldn't say no. 

Kara removed her finger ever so slowly, shrugging and waiting for Lena to speak. 

Rolling her eyes, Lena opened her mouth again but ‘again’, Kara stopped her, walking closer and whispering, “Shh.”

Lena could feel the hairs on her neck all stand up as Kara whispered directly to her ear. She knew they were in public, it was dark and everyone was pretty much drunk but they were still on public. She shouldn't be doing this with others around, but she couldn't do anything about it. It was like Kara has frozen her now, she couldn't move and if she could, she wouldn't want to. 

She gulped when Kara spoke again, this time slower and closer. “I think I know what you need to do for me to forgive you.”


	14. 14: give me your heart and i'll hold it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I won't write notes but... this is my favourite chapter so far! We're making a huge turn, folks!
> 
> Please enjoy reading this the same way I enjoyed writing! Love to all x

Lena couldn't ignore Kara anymore. 

She ended up taking Kara to her place that night instead, because it was closer to the club and Kara legitimately looked like she'd black out any minute. And, yes, for the first time, they spent a night together without doing anything other than sleeping. 

It seemed strange and it seemed ‘wrong’, Lena could almost feel her heart racing, repeatedly asking herself what she was doing. They were being too comfortable, too friendly, too domestic… just too much for her liking. But then she couldn't do anything about it. She tried to, she received a text from Kara the day after, asking her to meet for lunch. She wanted to say no, but couldn't, especially when Kara started to use her charms through the video call she wasn't even sure why she agreed on having. 

During that lunch, Imra has sent her a text, asking for Kara's number. As it turned out, she broke up with Mike easily and thanked Kara for letting her know ‘and’ for standing up for her, which reminded Lena:

“How's your hand?”

Kara had laughed from across her, too busy digging in to the many layers of the burger in front of her. “I mean, at least it's not broken.”

The day after, Lena was the one who texted Kara if she wanted to grab lunch with her. Why? She wasn't sure either. All she knew was the fact that she enjoyed the Blonde's company, perhaps more than she would ever admit. Much to her disappointment, Kara texted her almost immediately, telling her that she couldn't today. 

It seemed odd, Kara has never turned down any of her invitations before. But then, Lena took it as she was just busy with work (Re: Andrea Rojas was a pain in the ass as a person, much more as a boss). 

That night, Lena just got back from work to her apartment — which seemed too empty now, without Kara around. It was strange, considering she's been alone since she moved — when she received a call from Lillian Luthor. 

She hesitated at first, but whilst she plop herself down the cushion of the sofa, she slid the phone across and took it next to her ear. “Mother.”

“Lena,” said the Older Luthor. “How are you?”

Rolling her eyes as she removed her heels with her free hand, Lena spoke. “Business is doing fine, Mother.”

“I wasn't asking about the business, I was asking about you.”

Lena tried her best to keep herself from laughing because her Mother was just ‘hilarious’. She lifted the phone off her right ear and moved it to the other, proceeding to remove her other shoe at the same time. When she was done, she focused solely on the noise coming from the other end of the phonecall. 

“What do you want?”

Lillian chuckled on the other line and Lena could almost picture her, sitting in her office, a wine glass on her hand and a rather cold expression on her face. “Come home for the Holidays.”

“What for?” she asked. The Luthors never wanted her for the Holidays, unless there was a catch. 

“Your Father is planning to run for the next Election, as Mayor,” her Mother said, “We'll do an outreach program as Family on Thanksgiving. Proceed to put some flowers on the Family name until the first half of next year.”

Of course, there was a catch. Lena didn't hide her distaste this time. “You already know what I'm gonna say. No, Mother, I won't go home for the Holidays.”

But Lillian was laughing on the other line. “Have I mentioned I'm not just asking you to stay for the Holidays? I want you to come home, for good.”

Lena would say she was surprised, but she actually wasn't. If the Luthors wanted a picture perfect family until the Elections, they would have to stick together every step of the way. As much as Lena would love to support her Father, she knew she couldn't just leave everything behind. 

“You've lost your mind if you think I'll do what you want,” Lena said, chuckling. “I can't leave.”

“You're the CEO, you can.”

“Exactly why I can't,” Lena grunted, suddenly too annoyed with her Mother. “Would that be all? I would like to have some rest.”

“You will come home, Lena.”

Despite her annoyance, Lena smirked, “I am home.”

She ended the call after that. Her first instinct was to turn off her phone, knowing her Mother would send a text message to taunt her any second from now. But then, her second instinct — that was probably a second nature now — was to text Kara, and that was what she did. 

‘I could use a distraction. Mine or yours?’

The reply wasn't immediate, in fact, Lillian had texted her just after she sent that message to Kara, saying that their conversation wasn't over. Rolling her eyes, she checked the newest message. 

‘I could use some too. Mine, is that alright?’

Albeit confused with what happened for Kara to want a distraction tonight, she sent a reply to tell her that she'd be there in a few. So, after sending her driver a text, she ran toward her room to change, make herself as presentable as she could, then headed down. 

The Driver was already waiting for her then, with her telling him the Code they started using, short for Kara's place that the Man knew so well by now. It was twenty minutes after the message when she arrived at Kara's door, eagerly knocking. 

The Blonde looked dangerous — literally, that was the word — when she opened the door, wasting no time to pull Lena inside. Before she knew it, they were inside her bedroom, her top — save for the bra — already off. She was halfway through removing Kara's shirt when the Blonde froze, distancing her face from hers, her hands falling to her side. 

Lena frowned, trying to catch a glimpse on Kara's face, but failing, for the lights were off. “Is everything okay?”

Her companion let out a deep breath, running her hand over her hair before standing up, buttoning her shirt up again. “God. I'm sorry, Lena.”

Right now, Kara was facing her, standing on the side of the bed in front of the window. The lights from outside were enough to give her some clear view of her expression. Lena almost felt a pinch on her heart, wondering why Kara looked ‘that’ upset. 

Normally, she would be disappointed. Why tell her to come over just to stop when she was already halfway naked? But then, she was more concerned with what could possibly be troubling the Blonde to even be angry. 

“It's okay. If you don't wanna do it, it's okay,” Lena said gently, standing up from the bed and being thankful that the lights were off, Kara not being able to see her completely. Then again, the lights being off meant that she wouldn't find her top anytime soon. 

“I thought I could but I—” Kara paused, biting her lip, “It's just a tough day, is all. Thought I could use a distraction but my mind is literally just taking off to an another dire—”

“It's fine,” Lena repeated, now standing toe to toe with Kara, feeling too exposed but not being against it at all. “You don't have to explain it, silly.”

Kara nodded at her, looking distracted. Lena took the time to move past her, blindly looking for her missing piece of clothing. It was when she opened the door a little bit to let some lights on that she saw it just a few steps from where she was standing. Quickly, she grabbed it and put it over her head to wear. 

“So,” she said when Kara still hasn't moved from where she left her. Her voice made the Blonde look back to her and she shrugged. “If sex isn't the answer, maybe something else is? I don't know about you but I still need a distraction myself.”

Kara chuckled, walking towards her and turning the lights on, almost blinding Lena. That was when she realised how defeated and exhausted Kara looked like, it was worse than how she looked that night she punched Mike in the face. 

She wanted to ask what was up, but decided against it… for now. Luckily, Kara had the same thing on her mind. “I mean, you're already here so… how does a movie sound?”

“Great,” Lena grinned, “I'll order pizza.”

“Please order a real pizza.”

Lena laughed, “How'd you know I won't order a real one?”

Kara answered that with a shrug and a sly smile, slipping off the room, yelling that she'd set up the movie on the living room. Shaking her head, Lena grabbed her purse that was laying lifelessly on the floor, being thrown there when neither of them cared about anything else. Quickly, she dialed and ordered a delivery. 

The setup was done when Lena made it to the living room, looking around the still empty place with disapproval on her face. Kara has been living there for almost a month, but only the necessary appliances were being put to use. No designs, no touch of personal style so far, or anything. 

When she heard Kara coming from the Kitchen, she spoke, “You really should decorate this place soon.”

She turned around, seeing Kara with two cans of beer. With a smirk, she ignored Lena's comment and asked instead, “Beer or Beer?”

“Dying,” she answered, rolling her eyes when Kara threw one to her direction. Thankfully, she caught it and managed to not hurt herself. 

Kara pushed past her, grabbing the remote as she sat down. Lena followed suit, sitting closely to Kara with no hesitation. 

“About the place, I'm not really one for home appliances shopping,” Kara said, scrolling through the array of movies on Netflix. 

Lena nudged her, “Lucky for you, I am.”

The Blonde raised her eyebrows, one arm subconsciously sliding on the backrest behind Lena. “Yeah? Are you volunteering to help me?”

“Not without payment, no.”

“Hmm,” Kara said distractedly, her full attention on Lena, the remote being left alone on the table in front of them. “How much would you like?”

“I'm sure you're aware about what type of payment I prefer,” Lena said, her gaze dropping to Kara's lips, wanting nothing else but to lean in and kiss her. She licked hers, because she couldn't. She should respect Kara's decision. 

Before Kara could respond, there was a knock on the door. She gave her an apologetic smile before taking off to open the door herself. Of course, she would choose the pizza over Lena, but she laughed about it and took the time to grab the remote and chose a film herself. 

“We are not watching ‘The Perfection’, Lena,” Kara said to her, the box of pizza on her hand. 

“Yes, we are,” Lena said with a shrug, childishly hiding the remote underneath her top. “It's an amazing film and both of them are hot.”

Sometime later, the both of them were busy eating and drinking, sometimes bantering about what should've happened on the film, considering they've seen it before already. Kara ended up on the floor, the back of her head laying softly on Lena's thighs and although Lena was sure it was going to make her thigh numb later, she doesn't care. She kind of liked it, to be honest. Especially because of Kara's smiles and giggles, her head throwing back whenever they laugh about something, the contact making more and more impact on Lena — physically and emotionally. 

They were on the final scenes when Kara's phone rang and Lena groaned. “Who is it?”

She watched as Kara grabbed the phone from the table, declining the call and throwing it back where it came from. It didn't take long until it was ringing again, and this time Kara stood to grab it, excusing herself. Lena sat there dumbfounded, whoever was on the other end of the phone, Kara didn't like it and she wasn't sure why. Not having any will to finish the film by herself, she paused it as she drank the last of her beer — a brand she hasn't tried before because in Kara's words ‘it was the cheapest on the convinience store but it's decent, I promise.’

When Kara came back, she looked like heaven and earth just collided just right in front of her face. 

This time, Lena didn't hesitate. “What's wrong?”

Kara looked like she was contemplating, holding back even. “Eh, nothing. That's my sister, checking up on me and stuff.”

She watched her curiously, the Blonde doing whatever she could to not allow Lena to see her face. Lena thought for a moment, not knowing what to do, so then she stood. “Very well, then. Are you going to sleep now?”

Kara looked back at her, then towards the wall clock that said 12:15am. “I guess? But I don't know, I'm not tired yet. Do you wanna stay?”

Lena ignored the question and quirked her eyebrows instead, “Maybe if you've fucked me, you'd be exhausted by now.”

Her attempt to lighten the mood somehow worked, because now Kara was smiling. “If I fucked you, we still would be going on by now.”

“Cocky,” Lena commented, watching as Kara cleaned up, then an idea came at her. They've tried a lot of things but nothing seemed to really distract Kara, so maybe this would just work. “Let's go for a walk.”

The Blonde looked up, “It's past midnight.”

“Exactly.”

So then they did. The cold breeze of mid-November hit the both of them almost immediately, Lena covered in one of Kara's jackets she forced her to wear, knowing it would be a little cold outside. Lena was very hesitant at first, but when Kara threw the fabric to her hand, she almost didn't want to let go of it, ever. It smelt so much like Kara. 

They walked in silence, in peace, even. When they reached the bridge, everything looked peaceful, the lights on the apartments were already off, the streets weren't as busy, establishments closed, skyscrapers still soaring. It was chaos and harmony at once, and Lena liked it. She couldn't remember the last time she went for a walk during the night, nor she could remember walking at the streets these days with someone other than her driver. 

It was when a flash shocked her eyes when she jumped from where she was standing. She cursed, realising Kara had taken a picture of her. She started to chase her, make her delete the picture, but the Blonde only ended up taking much more hilarious ones. So Lena decided she'd play the same game, taking pictures of her companion and of the beautiful scenery — two of which were very alike, to Lena at least. 

It was past two in the morning when they sat on one of the benches, breathing easily under the stars. Kara was kicking the rocks with her foot distractedly, Lena watching her in awe, liking just how peaceful she now looked, and finding herself intrigued with everything this woman has to offer. She wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, the lack of sleep, or just simply her being dumb. But right now, all she wanted to do was to stay like this forever.

“Thank you, Lena,” Kara said, turning to her with a smile. 

It had caught her off guard, making her frown. “For what?”

“For staying the night,” Kara shrugged, “For distracting me… or not. I won't use that word because you didn't distract me, you made me focus to you and only you.”

She wasn't sure what to make of that, so then she joked, “Isn't that the same thing?”

“Ass,” Kara hissed, nudging Lena. “But really, though, you could've just gone home after I did that. It wasn't really nice, because we've established that we're just doing it.”

“We've also established that we're friends.”

Kara smiled at her, beaming. “I'm glad.”

Silence filled them after that, with Lena wondering if she should ask what exactly was happening or not. Surely the latter, because it looked like Kara really doesn't want to talk about it. 

“Yesterday was a shitty day for me.”

Or maybe she does. 

Lena just turned her head to Kara, silently waiting for her to follow that up. 

“It was—” the Blonde paused, licking her lips. “It was my parents' death anniversary.”

Lena was shocked, her mouth slightly ajar. Kara looked at her, waiting for a vocal reaction, but she didn't give her any. Lena had lost a parent too, her birth mother, and she knew that a person telling her that they were sorry that happened to her wouldn't make her feel any better. She guessed it was the same for Kara. Nothing would help, except a lending ear. 

“It's been so long but it's just harder on the day, you know,” Kara continued, “Alex called to check up on me but I just… went off. I mean, I know she understands but I still feel bad. She doesn't deserve that.

“My parents, they… they died in a fire. I was out on a study night or whatever over at Alex's house along with some other friends. I went home the next morning with no home. Never saw them again.” Kara chuckled bitterly, “I'm sorry, I really shouldn't unload this on you.”

“Don't sweat it,” Lena waved her hands dismissively, “What do you want me to do?”

“What?”

“Do you want me to just stay quiet? Do you want an advice? Or do you want to skinny-dip with me?”

Kara snorted, “Are you ever serious, Luthor?”

Lena laughed, she really doesn't do well with emotions so she had to do ‘that’. She reached over Kara's hand, taking one of them. “Not to make this about me but… I've lost a parent too.”

“You? What?”

“Lillian isn't my actual mother,” she said, the words slipping off her tongue naturally because, truly, not being Lillian's biological daughter was the biggest achievement a Luthor could have. “My mother died before I could even pronounce my entire name correctly.”

“Lena I—”

“It's okay,” Lena laughed, “I'm just saying this just so you know I understand. I won't pity you because I know it won't help, I won't validate your feelings because I know it will just go over your head when you're grieving, I won't sympatize because I will never know exactly how it feels. But just because I won't, doesn't mean I'm an asshole, it only means that I understand. And I'm right here.”

The Blonde squeezed her hand tightly and she breathed with it, feeling it with every fibre on her body. In that moment, she once again wanted to lean in to kiss Kara. This time, it wasn't only because she was so attractive and that lips was just too kissable to resist. No, this time, it was also because it felt ‘right’; under the stars, when the city was sleeping, with the moon as their only witness.

So she did. She leaned in, kissing Kara so much gentler than usual. Her fingers ran smoothly on her shoulder, with Kara supporting her back. The touches were tender, like both of them were scared either would break if they held the other way harder. It was weird, it was something they haven't done, and in fact, it was making Lena feel things she hasn't felt in such a long time. 

She rested her forehead against Kara's after the kiss, pushing the doubts towards the back of her head. Whatever it was, it was making her feel giddy inside and scared at the same time. But as she stared at Kara's eyes, her own reflection stared back at her, like they were one. 

“I'm very lucky you're here.”

With that, Lena grinned, “I know, I'm such a catch.”

“Yes, you are.”

Lena distanced herself, standing up abruptly and looking far ahead. Smiling to herself, she realised she's done a lot of bad decisions tonight, might as well carry on with the streak. 

“So… skinny-dipping?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the Chapter - The Way by Kehlani ft. Chance the Rapper


	15. 15: i don't really care about rules, i just really care about you

Lena Luthor has never gone skinny-dipping before. 

But she didn't tell Kara that as they did it together for the first time. It ended up not being anything embarrassing like Lena expected. In fact, she enjoyed it that she didn't even bother to try and hide her body for Kara right after. Kara didn't either, and for the first time she felt the liberty to just admire her, without having to touch her.

It was a stupid decision, because it was cold and their clothes were damped. They had to practically sprint back to Kara's place and change, Lena once again on Kara's clothes. The Blonde even made them both some hot chocolate drink. Lena doesn't even like chocolate, but she didn't tell Kara that. She didn't have the heart and she simply doesn't want any trace of disappointment to flash on Kara's face. 

They fucked, too. Although Lena wasn't sure if that was still the right word for it. It seemed crazy, but it felt different that night. It was a lot gentler, more sensual, in a way. She wasn't sure how such a vanilla sex could feel that good. 

In the morning, she woke up with Kara's arms around her. Instead of shaking it off and sliding off the bed like she normally does these days, she stayed in the position until the Blonde woke up. When she did, she demanded that they should prepare breakfast together. And they did just that. 

They saw each other again later after dinner, also known as after Lillian called Lena again to force her to go to Metropolis, having already cleared her schedule for the Thanksgiving weekend and was in the process on clearing it entirely for the rest of the year. Lena had cursed out her Mother, bitterly joking about how Lillian should just find a temporary replacement as CEO to make it all easier. 

Kara and Lena were laying together on the floor, having just finished “Tangled” after Kara insisted on watching that one. Lena didn't tell her, but she's seen that film way too many times for her liking herself. 

“Hey, Lena?”

“Hmm,” Lena hummed, sitting up and tying her hair in the process, reaching over the box of pizza with only two slices left. 

“What are your plans for Thanksgiving?”

She looked over Kara, seeing her cute little face under the dimmed lights. Lena was chewing on her food, and she made that as an excuse to not answer.

“Well, it's just that I saw Sara earlier,” Kara explained, sitting up, her knees bumping with Lena's. “She invited me over to her house, said her friends and her family will all be there. I asked if you were coming and she said something about you being conflicted?”

She couldn't help but laugh. Sara has invited her over for about a million time since November rolled around and it was because she knew it was Lena's first Holidays without Kate by her side. Lena thought it was very kind of her, and to be honest, her original plan was to attend that said event. However, after Lillian ruined her spirits, she scrapped that idea out of her head and decided she'd probably just get drunk all by herself during the weekend. 

“Yeah, well,” Lena started, placing the pizza down and started to wonder why Kara was even asking. Was she originally going to spend the weekend alone too? “What about you? Did you say yes to her?”

Kara waved her hands, “Nah, but I'd love to. I mean, your friends are so cool. But we also kind of have that kind of thing too where all of my friends gets together for that weekend.”

Lena wasn't sure what she was expecting, but she felt her shoulder falling. “Ah.”

“Yeah, and—” Kara trailed off, grabbing the other piece of pizza and taking a massive bite. “This is going to sound weird but… if you want, only if you do, you can come and join us?”

It sounded more of a question than a statement and it was shocking. Kara was right, that sounded weird. But before Lena could answer, Kara was rambling again. “I mean, I know you probably have a lot of choices that's why you were conflicted as Sara put it,” she continued with a chuckle, “But I promise you, we're really fun. Not to mention, we can drive from here to NC, it's a hell of a ride.”

Lena just stared at Kara. This was all so odd. Why was she inviting her? And a ‘road trip’? If Lena was correct, National City was a six-hour drive from Star City. They could easily board a plane, or probably board Lena's plane. Not that she was considering the idea or anything but… alright, maybe that doesn't sound like such a bad idea, after all. 

“If this is crossing boundaries, please forget I asked,” Kara finished, smiling expectantly to Lena. 

“Why'd you want me to go?” Lena asked instead. 

“For starters, they liked you,” Kara laughed, “You've met some of my friends, remember? During the party before the Fight. I kind of mentioned we were friends now so… they're all really interested. And, more importantly, Sam's coming too. She's joined us for the past two years.”

Okay, maybe that just solved it. Lillian had cleared her schedule from friday afternoon towards the whole weekend, Lena was a free woman and she could do whatever the hell she wanted. She'd join her own friends, but she sees those people almost every week. Maybe coming to National City would clear her mind? Especially because she'd see Samantha Arias and she'd get the chance to question that woman's life choices. How crazy could she get? Still going to hang out with her ex's friend group? Lena was almost certain that Alex was going to be there too with her girlfriend, and Sam was going to 'flip'.

Then again, Lena wasn't completely sane either, considering she was actually taking this invitation seriously. So seriously that she answered right away, “I'm in.”

“You're—” Kara's eyes widened, “You're in?”

“Let's just hope Sara won't be too jealous,” Lena joked, smiling at Kara because, really, how bad could it be?

\- 

It was bad. 

It was so bad how 'good' it felt to be behind the steering wheel, driving down to National City, with Kara on her passenger seat. 

Kara, who was rather occupied with her chicken nuggets. Kara, who decided the road trip would be better if she chose the playlist. Kara, whom for some reason, Lena just allow to get away with literally anything. 

It was currently past two in the afternoon, and pretty sure they'd make it to National City just in time. Lena didn't want to overthink what would happen. No, she had ignored Lillian's calls from yesterday and turned off her phones the moment she stepped out of L-Corp to fetch Kara earlier this afternoon.

Right now, however, Lena couldn't help but question if this was a good idea. For one, she wasn't sure how long they'd be there. And, well, she wasn't sure where exactly she was staying. Sure, she had her money and everything but she felt like she should stick around the group the entire time… or something. It felt weird, knowing that she was about to go out with Kara and her friends publicly, knowing that no one has seen her with Kara before since. 

“Let's play a game,” Kara said, out of nowhere as Lena tried her best to focus on the road. 

That was a lie, she has been over-speeding here and there. Part of it was because she really was just a reckless driver and the other part of it was because it pissed the hell out of Kara that she called her out for it multiple times already, and they weren't even on their first hour yet. 

“No,” Lena said plainly, adjusting her sunglasses, not sparing a glance to Kara. 

“Come on, you're no fun,” Kara chuckled, “Told you you could've allowed me to rent a car so I could drive instead.”

“I don't wanna die yet, Danvers.”

Kara laughed, “Good point.”

“Let's play a game,” Lena said, mocking Kara. It was that moment when their eyes met — albeit behind the glasses — for the first time during the ride. The sun was above them and it was hot, literally hot, but during that moment it was so much hotter. 

“Yeah? What kind of game?”

“Let's play questions.”

By the way Kara snorted, she knew exactly what she was about to say. “Lena, that's freaking boring.”

She couldn't help but laugh at the reaction. The more they spend time before dark, the more Lena realised how much of a child the Blonde was. Sure, they'd always teased each other. But there was something so casual and normal about not being in a safety of any four walls — with only one purpose: To fuck — that was so light-hearted and calm, making her heart warm. 

“You have no choice,” she said, “So, let's see…”

“Wait,” Kara paused, “So, we're allowed to ask anything? No rules?”

“Do you like rules?”

“Hate rules.”

“Exactly.”

“Okay then,” Kara grinned, setting her food down. “On the scale of 1-10, how good is the sex?”

Lena looked at her crazy before eyeing the road back. She couldn't help but blush and just hopep Kara's blind ass didn't get to notice. “Not questions like that.”

“I thought there's no rules?” Kara teased, nudging Lena's thigh. 

“Okay, one rule.”

“Bummer.”

“You're such a child,” Lena commented, “Here's the rule: We're just friends this entire trip, no other after hours escapades.”

“Aw, so no bathroom sex?”

“Kara!”

Usually, Lena would tease Kara back, but right now she was too on edge. She wasn't sure why she was even nervous about seeing Kara's friends again. 

“Okay, then,” Kara finally said, “Oh, and don't worry, all they know is that we're friends. No one will suspect there's something else we do together.”

“Good, Sam knows though.”

“Oh.”

Lena side glanced her, “Is that a problem?”

“No, no,” Kara said quickly, “I just realised that I may have told Alex that I slept with a woman during that party. She's not stupid so she may have put two and two together, now that we're friends after that too.”

“Hmm,” Lena hummed, a smirk plastering over her face as she came up with a first question. “Okay, I have a question.”

“Oh no.”

“Did you really think you were straight before… me?” she asked, remembering the time Kara told her it was her first time doing it with a woman. Not to mention, Sam have known her for over two years and she thought she was straight. 

“Uhm, well, not really,” Kara said, “Funny story: Yes, you were my first… you know.”

“Say it.”

“No.”

Lena laughed, “Go on.”

“But, like, romantically-wise, I had the biggest crush on my High School best friend,” Kara continued.

“Yeah?” Lena tilted her head, intrigued, “What's her name?”

“Lucy,” Kara answered, “We were best friends althoughout high school. When Alex came out, I started to question myself, thinking what if I was too… or something. Then I realised I may not be as straight as I thought.”

“And what happened with the girl?”

“Well, I confessed a week before graduation,” Kara laughed, “I got rejected and she threw away years of friendship just like that, said she's not ready or something. I ignored all my feelings for my girl friends since then.”

“Ouch.”

“Exactly.”

“Is that why you settled for the douchebag?”

Lena feared it still may have been so soon to joke about that, but relief washed over her when Kara laughed. “Yeah, probably.”

“You should thank me I made that toast.”

“Oh, I'm very grateful,” Kara grinned, “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Who made you realise you're not straight? If your story is even like that...”

Lena stopped listening after the question because... she couldn't exactly tell Kara that her boss was her gay awakening, could she? Well, Andrea wasn't really the reason why she realised she was a lesbian. No, but she was indeed a huge part of it. With those beautiful eyes and… maybe Lena had a thing with beautiful eyes. 

Before she could come up with a lie, a phone rang, and of course it was Kara's. 

The Blonde gave her an apologetic look, fishing her phone out from her pocket and frowning. “Sam's calling me.”

Lena glanced as Kara slid over her phone, muttering something quietly before addressing Lena, “She said you have to hear this so you have to pull over and hear what she has to say.”

She was confused, but followed what she was told anyway. She pulled over the side of the road, not caring if that was even legal and reached over Kara's phone that the latter was already offering to her. She raised a finger to Kara, indicating just a second, before taking the phone to her ear. “What is it, Samantha?”

“Why the hell is your phone turned off?”

“I'll tell you when we get there,” Lena laughed, her eyes on the window, “Listen, we'll arrive in less than five hours. Can this wait?”

“No!”

She couldn't help but glance back to Kara who was sharing the same confused expression. Although the Blonde couldn't hear what Sam was saying, so they were obviously confused by two different reasons. 

“What is it, then?”

“So… Alex just got here, with Kelly of course. And, oh God, Kelly is gorgeous and kind and ‘so’ freaking likeable. Of course, that's why she likes her—”

“Focus, Sam,” Lena laughed, “We'll get through that Crisis later.”

“Okay, okay,” Sam took a deep breath, saying the next words as fast as she could, ”The Fight is coming to Star City again!”

“Yeah?” Lena huffed, “I don't care, what about it? That'd probably be when? Next year or something?”

“No,” Sam laughed, “They'll have a two-weekend show, simultaneously. So, they're doing Christmas Eve and New Year's eve.”

“What?” Lena practically yelled. 

“My point, exactly,” Sam chuckled, “They're staying the whole Holidays.”

“Fuck,” Lena muttered, more to herself. Because, well, maybe going back home to Metropolis was the better idea. She wasn't ready to face Kate or Beth, or anyone of them, for that matter. 

“Oh, one more thing.”

“What?” Lena asked, more annoyed at this point. 

“The throuple broke up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got so long, had to cut it. So sorry for how horribly it ended, lol. See you on the next!
> 
> Supercorp (not) dating? Lmao the distance between Star City and National City is all in my head, pls leave me alone but preferably with a Kudos! ; )


	16. 16: this sh-t's getting too deep for me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I couldn't continue the other half of the last update. I know you will enjoy this chapter if you read carefully althroughout the end! x

Lena Luthor made a lot of mistakes during the course of her life so far. 

Going to National City with Kara wasn't one of them. She questioned if she would fit in or not, if she'd just ruin everything for everyone. Then, she questioned it more and more when her mood changed because of the news about Kate. Thankfully after that phone call, Kara had done nothing but to calm her down. 

“What'd she say?” Kara had asked once Lena tossed her phone back to her, watching as Lena started the car again. 

With a shrug, Lena answered, “The Fight's coming to town. Everyone's gathering together during the second half of December.”

Kara gasped and was silent at first, watching as Lena started to drive. The Blonde leaned closer, “I'd say that's great, but I guess not? For you, at least.”

“That's putting it lightly,” Lena chuckled, still feeling extremely bitter whenever she thought about Kate or anyone who's hidden whatever went down from her. 

“But, hey,” Kara nudged her, “Maybe it's for the better. You're facing her now, so then it'd all be over.”

“It's not that easy.”

“I guess so,” Kara shrugged, looking away nonchalantly, “For what it costs: Kate looks like an another asshole wrapped in a person. Guess we both have bad taste.”

“Had,” Lena smirked, winking at Kara then realising the Blonde couldn't see it behind her sun glasses. 

Still, Kara seemed to understand what she was implying and it did in fact backfired because it once again made her blush when Kara finally spoke. “Yeah, had. We have each other now.”

Lena knew they didn't actually have each other. Sure, they were friends. Sure, they do flirt. But that was just it, they were fucking and absolutely nothing else. Still, when Kara said that, it sounded like she actually meant it, like they really did have each other. Lena wasn't particularly sure what to do with that information.

Right now, Lena was sat on the dining table alongside Kara's friends, and Sam, who was sat by her side. The Brunette had tackled her to the floor when she finally arrived about two hours ago, taking some time off with just the two of them as Sam unloaded about how jealous she had been as Alex and Kelly were shameless about their affection for each other the entire time. 

“And it fucking sucks because they're so good together and Kelly is so sweet, I can't hate her,” Sam had whispered to Lena, glaring at the two. 

The dinner went by pretty smoothly, enough to take Lena's mind off of things. Well, that was the case until Alex decided to bring it up when they were sat by the couch, just the two of them hearing the conversation because the others were too busy arguing which movie to watch.

“So, Kane's your ex, right?” Alex asked, sitting beside Lena. 

She was startled at first, for Alex hadn't addressed her directly the entire dinner. And as a matter of fact, she didn't want her to, especially knowing that she probably knew what was up between her and her sister. 

“Uh, yeah,” Lena said, chuckling, “One of many.”

“Ah, yeah, she and the chicks broke up,” Alex said, “They're on good terms, I think? They're still coming with us to Star City next month.”

“Is that so?” Lena asked, finding it amusing. She wasn't sure what Kate had in mind when she broke up with those two and if she was being honest, she really doesn't care.

Alex just hummed in response, leaning closer to Lena, “Okay, I don't know if you're expecting this question but: Do you like my sister?”

Lena's eyes widen, blinking repeatedly as she stared at Alex. First of all, Alex was pretty straightforward for someone who wasn't straight (Lena has this theory that gay people just couldn't be straightforward) and second, she has in fact never thought about the possibility of her liking Kara. 

Sure, the moments they've been spending together since that night by the bridge has been something terrifyingly beautiful that it had been scaring Lena. But, well, she never actually said it out loud not does anyone question her about her motives in regards to the Blonde. 

The problem was that it was all just going naturally with Kara. Every progress they made, it came by smoothly that she didn't have the time to actually sit down with her thoughts and ask, “Oh, am I in too deep?”

She wasn't sure how to answer, all she could do was wait for someone, something, literally anything to serve as an interruption. And, well, God favoured her, because then her phone started ringing. She smiled apologetically before grabbing her phone, deep inside she wanted to scream out of happiness when she saw the caller ID. 

She wasted no time and excused herself, going to the balcony as she slid the answer. “Fuck, thank you so much.”

She could hear chatters from the other line, and she waited until it was quiet to speak again. “Sara? Are you there?”

“Oh, yeah, I'm here,” Sara said, “Yeah, you son of a bitch, what the fuck?”

Lena chuckled, “Sorry for not calling soon. I'm with Kara.”

“Yes, you told me,” Sara said, and Lena could almost picture her rolling her eyes. “But you could've texted us just now, we're your friends and none of us got a text back about Thanksgiving. I should say, I'm pretty hurt.”

“Yeah and I'm angry at you for not telling me that the Devil not only is coming, but staying for over two weeks to town,” Lena said playfully, knowing that Sara had known about the fight's schedule beforehand. 

“Shit,” Sara chuckled, “I forgot to tell you, but in my defense, I rarely see you these days. You're always either at work or with Kara.”

Lena would ask her why she knew about her and Kara, then she realised she brought Kara with her on the Gala, not to mention Kara has been speaking with Sara too. God, she was just hoping Sara wasn't thinking the same thing Alex was on. 

“Well then, Happy Thanksgiving, Lance,” Lena said, “I'll be by your side for Christmas, don't miss me too much.”

“Are you sure?”

Sara's tone suddenly shifted from playful to concerned and Lena knew just why. She shrugged it off, even though the mere mention of it was enough to send her mood down. “Yeah, of course. It might be a good thing, for proper closure, or whatever.”

“The only closure you need is your own permission for yourself to be happy again,” Sara said gently, and Lena could almost feel the Blonde's smile even if she was miles away. “But whatever you say. I'm here, okay? I can beat Kate up for you.”

Lena chuckled, looking over the National City, her right hand on the railings. “Yeah, of course. I think I also know someone who can punch her for me.”

She hated herself for thinking of it, but she remembered Kara and how she punched Mike in the face. It was both really badass and really concerning, Lena thought. 

“Is this who I think it is?”

Lena rolled her eyes, somehow the teasing was lifting her spirits, but it was also bringing her back to Alex's question. “Enjoy your weekend, Sara.”

Sara chuckled, “You too, Luthor.”

She wasn't sure how long she stared to the City after the phone call, but before she knew it, someone else was behind her, and this time she knew exactly who it was. 

“Are you okay?

Kara's voice rang inside her head, over and over again. Now that she has been confronted out loud about her feelings, she felt like something else changed again. She wanted to keep her distance, if she'd ever confirm that she in fact was developing some feelings for the Blonde.

But as usual, she didn't mind making risky decisions when it included Kara, especially when she turned around and saw her. She was gorgeous, soft yet tough, handsome yet humble, and warm yet fierce. Perfectly balanced and way too perfect, Lena thought.

“Yeah,” she answered weakly. Her knees were weak too, and her body's logic was for her voice to sound just as much.

She wasn't sure why but seeing Kara right there was so comforting. And maybe it was the self-sabotaging part of her brain, but that thought scared the living shit out of her. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she repeated, clearer this time, “just had to take a phone call and take some air.”

“Was this too much?”

Lena's eyes widen, and suddenly she was defensive. “No, no, far from it,” she cleared, “I'm actually enjoying, your friends are lovely.”

Kara approached closer, her eyes never leaving Lena's. When she reached her, she reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze. “I hope they're not scaring you.”

Lena giggled, gazing back and forth to their entwined fingers as they both looked below to the City. “Not at all.”

The Blonde was too focused staring at the City, but Lena was more interested on memorising — if she hasn't already — Kara's features. She cleared her throat, “Do you miss it here?”

Kara turned to her, thinking for a moment, “Yeah. I mean, my friends are here. But aside from that, there isn't much for me here.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I wouldn't want to come back.”

“Why?”

“Too much memories,” Kara chuckled, “Sure, Mike's on Star City too but believe it or not, I couldn't care less. Maybe I moved on too fast, and maybe the fact that I'm not seeing the places we used to go to together is a huge factor for that.”

“And maybe I'm such an amazing distraction,” Lena hinted in order to tease Kara, but it kind of backfired when the Blonde blushed — she freaking ‘blushed’ — and before she knew it, she was doing the same.

“Maybe that too,” Kara finally said, taking her hand back to adjust her glasses, the touch lingering on Lena's skin. “Do you feel the same?”

She shifted, balancing herself with one foot, then the other. “Well, yeah. Kate and I first got together in Metropolis. Now I can't even go to the fucking airport without thinking of her. Then to Gotham and more places. Star City's where there aren't much memories of us. So, yeah.”

“See? You get it,” Kara took a deep breath, scooting closer to Lena. “Are you over her?”

Lena licked her lips, something about Kara was making her want to just tell her everything. “Yeah, I know this for sure. I have been for a while, I'm just really angry still.”

“You said she cheated, right?” Kara asked, “Don't answer if you don't want to. I respect your boundaries, you know tha—”

“No, I want to,” Lena gave her a reassuring smile, now the one to take Kara's hand with her, playing with it. “Yeah, she did. I didn't know until when we talked last month.

“When we broke up, she said it's because she wanted to focus on making the Fight much bigger, taking it to Cities after Cities, recruiting fighters all over America. She asked me to come with her, but I couldn't; I was just starting L-Corp Star City then.

“She called me names, said I'm selfish and all those stuff,” Lena laughed bitterly, “As it turns out, she's been fucking Sophie for months before that, even engaged in a relationship with her. After we broke up, after she made me feel like shit, she carried on like it's nothing and went on with both Sophie and Julia.

“And it's not even the worst part,” Lena found herself basically ranting to Kara, who was just looking at her seriously, taking in all her words with sincerity in her eyes. “You were there, right? When she 'joked' about wanting me to join their throuple. Then you were also there during our lunch? With Andrea? She was all flirty and was constantly teasing me. God, she had the audacity. It was just all way too disrespectful, I feel… I feel embarrassed and it's not even my fault.”

She could feel Kara squeeze her hand gently and she looked down to it, her another hand reaching over to wrap Kara's with both of hers. “Then Beth, she's one of my best friends who also happens to be Kate's twin. She knew all along, and she didn't say anything, not even words like it's not my fault it happened. God.”

That was when Lena let go of the breath she didn't know she was holding. She could feel her heartbeat racing, but carefully slowing down as every second passed, the warmth being shared by their hands was somehow enough to contrast the breeze around them.

Before she knew it, Kara was reaching for her chin, running her index finger along her jaw, making her look up. She did, meeting Kara's gaze, one that she couldn't even begin to think what meant. But there it was, there was Kara's sly smile, enough to somehow say that everything was going to be okay from here. That she had hit the bottom, now the only way to go was up.

“I'm sorry, Lena,” she finally said, “You didn't deserve any of that.”

“But maybe I do.”

“What? No.”

“Maybe I do,” Lena said through gritted teeth, letting go of all contact she had with Kara. “Maybe I don't deserve to be happy or to be loved or any of those… fucking happy endings sappy shit they portray. It's just not for me.”

Kara blinked, clearly not expecting that outburst. Lena blamed it to Kara's freaking “Open up to me” exterior and to the booze she had earlier. And to Kate Kane. God, yes, blame everything to Kate Kane.

“That's not true,” Kara cooed, “I've only known you for a short while but you are the main reason why this year has become tolerable after all the shit Mike put me through even before the actual breakup. You, Lena Luthor, is the main reason I'm Thankful.”

Lena stared back at her, not daring to move or say anything. The distance she created between them was bothering her, but still she didn't make any effort to move. She didn't know why Kara was telling her this, maybe it was to calm her down, maybe it was because she knew she needed to hear this. But damn, she looked and sounded so genuine, it was making Lena believe everything she was saying. 

That was the thing about Kara, she had the darkness in her, ones Lena has seen before. But the majority of her was this warmth and hugs… and sunshine, and an incredible optimism. 

“I'm glad we became friends because I don't know what I'd do if we didn't,” Kara said with a laugh, now once again closing their gap, “Maybe I would've flown someplace else, go soul-searching and waste my money after the breakup. But since you were there, it all became way easier. As days passed, I saw just how much of a joy you are. You may not see it, but you're a gift, Lena. To me, to your friends, to everyone who knows you.”

That was it, Lena was in awe that she was sure she had to keep herself from breaking in front of Kara. She was right, it has only been a short while, not too long ago she didn't know Kara even existed. But here she was now, supposedly just a booty call, but Lena would be lying to herself if she'd say that Kara was nothing but that.

“I — wow, Thank you, you're too nice,” Lena trailed off, cringing. “Sorry, I'm not used to hearing things like… that.”

“Well,” Kara beamed at her and now she was as close as she was before, tucking strands of hair behind Lena's ear. “You better get used to it because I plan on sticking around.”

Lena blinked, but held the question back. What did Kara mean by that?

“C'mere,” Kara mumbled and before she knew it, she was being pulled towards a hug, tight enough to make her just let go of it all, holding just as tight to the taller woman. She closed her eyes, arms wrapped around Kara, breathing in and out. 

She never thought a simple hug could mean so much. And for that, she was thankful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your feedbacks make me happy! Please leave them whenever you can xxx


	17. 17: i know we're not together, but babe i won't forget you

That entire weekend was hands down the most comfortable Lena had been in ages. 

She turned off her phone again that night, spent the rest of it on Kara's bed. They didn't do anything, just slept, and possibly cuddled. The next day was spent in an Amusement Park with Ruby, and Lena could see how much less awkward Sam was becoming around Alex and Kelly. 

The sad part about Alex and Sam's breakup was the fact that Ruby has become so close to Alex that Sam didn't have the heart to say “no” whenever she asked to see her. It was so hard to watch at first, but she was getting better, and Lena couldn't be more happy. 

That night, they all went on a night out and got completely shit-faced. Aside from Kara, surprisingly, who volunteered to be the designated driver, willing to go back and forth to drive everyone by herself. 

During the night, when Lena was no longer herself, she found herself snuggling to Kara, burying her face on her neck. It was dark, she didn't care people could see. And if anyone would think of anything, then she'd deal with that tomorrow. 

“Why aren't you drinking?”

“I wanna drive,” Kara said with a chuckle, her grip tightening around Lena's waist as the latter trailed kisses on her neck. “And I wanna take care of you.”

That had gotten Lena's attention, making her just squeeze the hell out of Kara. She didn't tell her this, but Lena thought Kara gives the best hugs. She wasn't sure why she didn't try that before. Well, she was, and it was because they shouldn't even be hugging if they weren't on bed, but there were no rules now. If she messed up, she'd deal with that later, too. 

“Who knew you were such a sap,” Lena muttered, letting go and facing Kara from the side. 

The Blonde had laughed, “Only for you, Lena. Only for you.”

The next day, they all spent the rest of their weekend staying inside James' house, which was pretty big that it fit all of them. Lena even had her own room, but because they didn't have shame, she spent her nights inside Kara's instead. No one questioned it, not out loud at least, but Lena could see Alex's curious glances every now and then. 

She'd take pride and look Alex in the eye, make her know that she wasn't going to corrupt Kara, but she wouldn't. She wasn't even sure what they were doing at this point, she wasn't sure how it would all end.

Alex didn't ask her about her intentions since the first night and she was grateful for it. She wasn't sure how to answer it, but maybe right now, she knew what the answer was. 

Kara insisted she'd be the one to drive them home Monday morning. Lena had laughed, jokingly telling her that she has to pay if she crash the car. Shockingly, they got home just fine. The ride was rough that Lena almost felt like throwing up whenever they stopped, but she didn't tell Kara that. The Blonde had looked so proud of herself because it was her first time driving that along, and she wasn't going to take that joy away. 

She found it silly, but she liked the warmth in her heart whenever she sees Kara smile. It was almost gross, really. 

The original plan was for Lena to eventually go back to work and for Kara to go home because she still had the day off. However, when Lena opened her devices on their way back, she was informed by her assistant that everything once again has been cancelled courtesy of her Mother. All she did was roll her eyes, ignore the calls from Metropolis, and asked Kara to take her home instead. 

The Blonde obliged almost immediately, too excited to cook for the both of them for lunch. She did, quite horribly, but she got it done. Lena couldn't help but laugh her ass off on the soaked pasta and burnt shrimp, but finding herself devouring it all regardless, way too focused on the stories her companion was telling. 

It was supposed to be a lazy day, with Kara already telling her how many things they could do inside, especially because it was raining. But Lena insisted they do something else. 

“I told you I love furniture shopping,” Lena chuckled as they entered the establishment. 

“If I know anything about you, I'm sure as hell you've only done it online,” Kara said with a chuckle, opening the next door for Lena. 

“You got me,” Lena laughed, “But hey, this could be fun. We can just mess around with the couch and everything, probably break a glass or two.”

“Do whatever you want, rich woman,” Kara laughed, “As long as you'd pay for the damage.”

And so they did. They messed around with the couch, jumped on beds, got forks and knives falling to the floor, with the Manager eyeing them like she wanted to kick them out. At first, Kara felt a little bad, having been on customer service before. But Lena shrugged it off, said she'd talk to the manager later and give her a little something, thank her, and probably apologise for not kicking them out. 

All Kara could do was wonder about how many things money could do. 

Lena did talk to the manager, and they ended up actually buying furnitures that were to be shipped soon. Lena insisted she'd pay at least a little bit of it (not wanting to offend Kara if she offered to pay all) because she was the one who took them to this rather way too expensive place, but Kara shook it off. 

“Don't worry, I got it,” Kara grinned. True, she wasn't as rich, but she wasn't poor either. Not to mention she's got some money saved on the bank whilst she was in a relationship with Mike, thinking it would be put to use for a wedding or something. Those doesn't matter anymore. Not with him, at least. 

In some normal circumstances, Lena would still insist, but she really didn't wanna argue. So instead, she just made Kara go and eat dinner with her because apparently, they spent too much time in the department store.

And, well, it was safe to say that they should've just went home and ordered pizza. 

Because in the middle of their dinner, an uninvited guest just came over their table. And no, neither of them appreciated it. Especially not Kara. 

“Lena Luthor,” Andrea Rojas said, a few feet away from their table, walking smoothly with her purse on her hands. 

Kara tensed, making eye contact with Lena who could see Andrea coming. Lena looked up to Andrea who had just made it in the middle of them, smiling like the Devil. “Hmm, interesting.”

“What do you want, Rojas?”

But the CEO turned to her Assistant instead, “Going on dates now, huh? Don't be late tomorrow.”

“We're not on a date,” Lena said, losing her appetite. “What do you want?”

“Oh, you're not?” Andrea chuckled, “When you cut things off with me, you said it's because you found someone else. Is that over now?” she turned to Kara, “Please, don't disclose any of this conversation. You know how we roll.”

“Missing me that much, Andrea?” Lena asked instead, her eyes flicking back and forth to a clearly uncomfortable Kara who was just sitting in silence. 

“Maybe I do. You don't answer my calls anymore, baby,” Andrea winked, straightening herself, “I'll text you tomorrow. See if that works, yeah?”

Lena shallowed, once again checking Kara's reaction. Realising the only way to make Andrea go away was to make her hear what she wanted to hear, Lena shrugged, “If I'm on my mood, I don't see why not.”

With that, Andrea winked, “See you, Luthor. You too, Miss Danvers.”

She cleared her throat, watching as Andrea walked away from them, sitting down on one of the tables towards the far end of the restaurant. Lena licked her lips, awkwardly looking at Kara, waiting for anything, she wasn't sure what, but literally anything she could say. 

Lena was sure the next few minutes were the most awkward moments of her life. None of them spoke, until Lena had to pay and then Kara was leading them to Lena's car. Her keys were still on Kara, her driver still on vacation, she wasn't sure how the ride home was going to go down. She hasn't felt this uncomfortable around Kara since she could remember and she wasn't sure if she liked it.

The Blonde tossed her the keys when they made it to her car, adjusting her glasses, “Uhm, thanks for the dinner. I think I'll just walk home.”

“What? Don't be ridiculous, I'll drop you home,” Lena said, walking closer to Kara who just stepped back. 

“Nah, no need,” she chuckled, “Have fun… tomorrow.”

Lena took a step back herself. Kara looked so defeated, like she had zero energy to even follow that up. Lena cleared her throat, “I'm not gonna be with her tomorrow. I just said that so she'd—”

“You don't need to explain, Lena,” Kara said with a breathless chuckle, trying to sound humourous. “We're just fucking. No strings. You can do what you want.”

Kara said it in a monotonous tone, like she actually didn't care. But Lena could see through that, she noticed how Kara couldn't look her in the eye, how she kept switching from one foot to another, and how she kept touching her glasses. Lena calmed herself, not knowing where this was going. 

The day has been going so well, but of course, things always end up messed up for her. 

“Come on, don't be like that,” Lena tried to convince Kara, “I know we're not exclusive, but I won't engage with Andrea in any way, not if I could, not if I want to.”

“I told you, don't explain, it's not a big deal,” Kara said with a wave, taking more steps back, this time meeting Lena's eyes. 

“If it's not such a big deal, why are you acting like such a child?” Lena groaned, watching as Kara's eyes flickered with something. Hurt, maybe, she wasn't sure.

“I—” Kara trailed off, clenching her jaw, swallowing back all the words. 

Her eyes widened, hating how struggling Kara looked. 

“Forget it,” Kara said after clearing her throat and standing straight. “See you when I see you.”

Lena shook her head, “What are you so mad for? If I embarrassed you or something, I'm sorry, that's it. I really am. I'm trying to explain myself here and you're there trying to shut me off, saying that it doesn't matter—”

“Because it doesn't!”

“Yes, it doesn't, so why are you acting like it does?” Lena snapped, not being able to hold back the words herself. How did it come down to this? “You said it yourself, we're just fucking. That's all of it. You better try and act like it.”

They were just going around circles. Kara telling her this, then her saying the same thing. In the end, she thought there was possibly no common ground. Or maybe there was, just two coming from very different perspectives in this situation.

Lena wasn't sure why she was so affected, but she hated arguing with Kara. They've argued before, about Mike, and about Lena interfering. That had been awful, but this one hits her differently, and she was afraid she knew just why. 

Kara left without another word, this time not trying to hide her emotions. Her shoulders were down, lips almost trembling, Lena wanted to reach out and tell her about the realisation she had during the weekend, but she couldn't do that. Especially not after yelling to the Blonde's face about how they were nothing more, almost making it clear that they would always be just ‘this’, nothing else.

She found herself driving to Sara's gym instead, both because she missed her and because she could really use some wisdom right now. She didn't bother to call prior, knowing that Sara would have time for her. She only doesn't when Ava was around, so tonight wouldn't be a problem. 

When she showed up, the gym was merely empty, maybe without people still enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers instead of hitting the gym this soon. When Sara spotted her, she almost immediately knew something was wrong after they hugged. 

“You never hug me like that,” Sara said suspiciously, guiding both of them to her office. “What's wrong?”

Lena contemplated, fidgeting with her fingers. She's never said this out loud. In fact, she was still questioning if this was correct or if it was just her mind playing games. However, what a simple argument with Kara felt was somehow an enough proof for her to realise that she truly value the Blonde, way more than how much she expected she would. Way more than she could even acknowledge even at this point, to be completely honest. 

So, clearing her throat once more, thinking of what happened just a few moments ago, she decided to go back to the major problem: “I think I like Kara Danvers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst is coming because there are 13 chapters left after this one!!
> 
> Also, you better bet I was cringing the entire time I was writing their argument! Feedbacks are appreciated, folks!


	18. 18: i won't beg for your love, won't say please

Lena was ‘not’ worried about Kara not liking her back. 

No, in fact, she was more worried about the possiblity of the Blonde liking her too, especially after that reaction. It wasn't because she was cocky or anything like that, it was simply because she could recognise attraction whenever she sees one. 

She could be wrong. Perhaps Kara Danvers treated everyone the way she has been treating Lena, perhaps she has been reading into this too much... but either way, liking Kara despite of what she might get from it was already a disaster on its own. 

She clearly was not looking for something serious. The easy way out was to just call off the arrangement with Kara, do not try to clear the air in regards to what happened with Andrea, and leave everything as it was right now. But, truly, Lena has grown heavily attached. She hated to admit it, but she couldn't do Kara dirty just like that. 

“What do I do?” she asked after spilling all the beans to Sara who had stayed quiet the entire time except for the occasional smirking she usually does. 

“I don't know,” Sara shrugged, standing up from her seat to tower over Lena who was still sitting. “Maybe get your brain out of your ass and don't sabotage your happiness for once?”

Lena's eyebrows furrowed, she knew Sara would say exactly this. Deep down she knew what she actually wanted, but the bigger part of her just couldn't seem to even consider doing it. 

“I'm pretty sure she likes you,” Sara chuckled, “Who knew the girl you saved right inside this very place would have you wrapped around her fingers months later?”

Lena ran a hand over her hair, “You're not helping.”

The two ended up bonding about other things afterwards, all ending with the conclusion that Sara would support whatever her decision would be. Lena spent the rest of the night wide awake, dramatically obsessing about her next actions. She wanted to shoot Kara a text right away, but she doesn't want any other part of her aside from her heart speak for herself this time around. 

The next day was pretty much normal, except she was sleep deprived and looked like she was about to pass out when she finally arrived at L-Corp again. During the afternoon, she was informed by her Assistant about the Luthors current endeavors in Metropolis. By the afternoon, she finally encouraged Lillian's existence again. 

She didn't want to answer the call, but she couldn't see any other way. Also, she just had no energy to mess around. She knew she'd probably snap at her Mother the moment she slide the answer button, but the Lillian who spoke on the other line wasn't the Lillian she initially expected. 

“I'm allowing you to do what you want.”

She paused for a second, disconnecting the device from her ear to see if this was really her Mother. She bit her lips, “Sorry, what?”

“You can do whatever you want, Lena,” Lillian repeated, “Your Father don't want to bother you with his agendas. So, yes, you don't need to come home. I will not interfere with your schedules anymore.”

Lena found herself grinning, for the first time since last night, she felt relieved. “Now, that's something I did not expect to hear.”

“I didn't expect to be saying this either, so that makes the two of us,” Lillian said, “Enjoy the rest of your year, Lena.”

She smiled, “You too, Mother.”

The rest of the day went by smoothly but she didn't celebrate it that much, because she was once again placed back to her misery when she went home after work. She did it all afterwards, she had a nice bath, she cooked (just slightly horribly), she watched awful sitcoms, and still, she wasn't properly distracted. 

She didn't know what she was waiting for but it certainly wasn't the text message she got when she heard the phone ding on the coffee table.

She grabbed it, rolling her eyes as she read over the words on the screen, one's from Andrea whose name was now saved as just “Andrea” and nothing exciting anymore, as Sara used to put it. 

“Come over tonight?” the text read. It was only six in the evening, Lena was pretty sure Andrea was still inside her office, and that thought alone made her panic one more, realising Kara does work for Andrea. 

She has been wallowing in self-pity the entire day, just now realising that Kara literally had to face Andrea for the entire day. She just couldn't imagine what type of chaos went down. Hell, she wasn't even sure what state Kara was in right now. Was she even thinking about Lena? Does she even care at all?

Lena was starting to overthink this. The more she thought of it, the less confidence she had about the possibility of Kara truly caring about her. It was odd, she shouldn't be expecting things. 

She typed on her phone quite quickly, sending a: “Not tonight. I'm sick, like really sick.”

She knew emphasising ‘sick’ would just make it less believable but truly, she couldn't care less if Andrea doubted her excuse. She does not want to go back to her bed, nor does she want her touching her ever again. In fact, there was only one person she's been thinking about doing that with. 

Unfortunately for Lena, that person turned up on her doorstep just less than twenty minutes later. 

She opened her door, already in a state of panic when she saw Kara coming from her security camera. The Blonde was still dressed in her office clothes and really, that suit wasn't helping Lena's fantasy at all. They were already in a complicated situation as it was, she knew she'd make it all more complicated if she just do what she usually does whenever Kara showed up. 

No, she just couldn't ignore what happened yesterday. Especially after seeing that Kara had brought a few things, possibly for her.

Lena raised her eyebrows when she opened her door, eyeing the box of pizza and red roses Kara was offering. 

“I heard you're sick,” was the first thing Kara said once they both slipped inside Lena's place, the former leading them to the kitchen to eat ‘their’ usual pizza. 

“Not actually sick,” Lena said, trying her best not to focus too much on Kara's appearance. 

The Blonde chuckled, placing the box on the kitchen island. “Just sick of her?”

Lena snorted, placing two plates in front of Kara. “Definitely sick of her.”

Kara laughed, although it didn't quite reach her eyes, Lena thought. She watched as Kara handed her the red roses she got, suddenly Lena was frozen on the spot. 

“Got these for you for, uh, for being an ass, I guess,” Kara said, waiting for Lena to reply. When she realised Lena was physically unable to, she continued, “Should I put it in a—”

“A vase, yes, I'll do it,” Lena said, practically snatching the roses from Kara, turning around toward the sink. She just could ‘not’ let Kara see the way she was blushing stupidly.

The room was filled with awkwardness afterwards, the only noises heard were Kara opening the box of pizza and Lena watering the vase. When she got back to place it in the middle of the island, Kara already placed slices of pizza on their respective plates. 

Lena cleared her throat, getting Kara to took up to her. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. “Wait, you said you heard I was sick? But you clearly knew I wasn't, hence the pizza.”

Kara laughed, this time lighter than the one prior. “What makes you think that? I, myself, like eating pizza when I'm sick.”

She just stared at her, leveling her boyish grin. And good Lord, she just wanted to kiss her. 

“But, well, seriously,” Kara said, “Andrea asked me to send that text, she was in a meeting.”

Lena gasped, closing and opening her mouth to speak. ‘That fucking bitch,’ she breathed, “Of course, she did.”

“It was kind of weird, not gonna lie,” Kara chuckled, trying to sound humourous but failing miserably. “It's like texting you the usual thing I text you, only this time as someone else.”

Lena shook her head. Call her dramatic, but she was hurt by that, but only because Kara once again looked so defeated and she was making no effort to hide it. That was the thing about Kara, she wore her heart on her sleeve, how could Lena not see it when it was literally right ‘there’?

“I'm sorry, Kara,” she finally said, “For that, for what she did yesterday, and for what I said. All of it. I'm really, really sorry.”

Kara just looked at her for a while with an unreadable expression. The tension between them was most tangible, Lena had to make sure she wasn't staring too intently, afraid that she'd just break and probably make Kara fuck her right there or maybe confess her newly developed feelings for her ‘or’ worse, she'd do both. 

Before Lena knew it, she was kissing her. Or maybe ‘she’ was kissing her. Either way, she doesn't mind at all.

It was just a kiss, nothing more. No excessive touching, no tongue, no anything else. Somehow, it was enough to calm her down and make her once again decide to ‘let it be’ and live a little. It was always like this when it came to Kara. It was exactly why she has been making these stupid mistakes: The greatest of them being the fact that she, unknowingly, has been falling for her. 

She caressed Kara's cheek once they part, the Blonde's eyes squeezed shut, feeling the touch. Lena reached reached her other hand to do the same thing, the gesture seemingly more sensual than some of their hardcore or creative sex. Lena decided it was her second favourite after kiss moment, the first one being the one they shared near the bridge. 

In this very moment, Lena decided she'd tell Kara her feelings. If she wanted something more, then maybe they could try it out. If Kara does not feel the same but would just want to continue being casual, she'd do that too. Hell, at this point Lena was sure she'd do whatever to keep the Blonde around. 

Just when she was about to break the “news” to Kara, the latter spoke. “The pizza's getting cold.”

Lena felt like the “moment” has passed when they moved over to the living room. Once again, they were cuddling on the couch, eating pizza, and watching movies. Lena hated how at ease she felt, especially whenever Kara's gentle touches caressed the very bottom of ber being, only through her skin. 

Kara was warm, both literally and figuratively. Lena liked it, she realised this when she started to stay in Kara's bed until the morning, when she allowed Kara to spoon her or vice versa. Then she realised she loved Kara's hugs when she did it just last weekend. It was embarrassing how much she'd been valuing these little things, even before she recognised what she was feeling. 

It was crazy to her how your feelings could grow significantly more the moment you start to recognise it. A small part of her wanted a switch, just to be able to turn off these giddiness she continued to feel. However, deep inside she really, really liked it. She couldn't remember the last time she felt like this. If she ever felt like this before. 

“Kara?” she called gently when Kara stopped stroking the side of her arm. 

The person in question hummed, Lena realising she was almost half-asleep. She still wanted to talk, more about yesterday, more about whatever ‘this’ was between them. But maybe there'd be a “next time”, God, she'd give it all just to have endless next times with Kara. 

“Come on, let's put you to bed,” Lena said, somehow sounding so much natural as she turned the TV off, trying to get Kara off her couch. 

The Blonde smiled, eyes still squeezed shut, “Sorry, Miss. I'm not that easy to seduce. You can't lure me into your bed just like that.”

Lena rolled her eyes, letting herself be pulled towards Kara when the latter held her hand so tight, pulling her inwards. What Lena did was she sat on Kara's lap, legs apart, pressing herself harder and harder until Kara couldn't resist it anymore and opened her eyes. 

“Fuck,” Kara said, going through the motions Lena's doing, grinding their bodies together in a manner that neither of them was so natural, neither of them had to make any effort. It was just happening, their bodies doing all the work. 

Lena laughed, leaning in to press a soft kiss, her hands on the back of Kara's neck, holding just as tightly as Kara around her waist. 

“Is this…” Lena trailed off, now pressing kisses on Kara's neck, “… is this enough? Or still too easy for you, Ma'am?”

The Blonde grabbed a handful of her hair, only enough to make her bring her attention back up to her lips. When she leaned in for a kiss, Kara pressed two fingers against hers instead. Lena raised her eyebrows, Kara never stopped her like that unless something was wrong. 

So then she asked, albeit still teasingly, “What's wrong? You've proved your point, you're not easy.”

Kara licked her lips, holding Lena tightly as she was still seated on her lap. She gave Lena an apologetic smile, “I can't stay the night, sorry.”

Lena's shoulder fell down, she has never felt so disappointed. “Oh.”

She stood up quickly, turning her back away from Kara. “Okay then.”

She could hear Kara waking near her, reaching out to her arm to get her attention. When she was facing her again, the Blonde spoke, “I just have to be up very early tomorrow, picking up someone from the Airport who will stay at mine for a while. You know well waking up early isn't an option whenever one of us stays over.”

Lena wanted to laugh, because that was not true at all. She was Lena Luthor, she'd get laid but she would still get shit done. However, she wanted to focus on one part of Kara's reason. “Someone? Is Alex arriving already?”

“Uh, no,” Kara said quickly, her touch lingering on Lena's skin before removing it completely. She looked around everywhere, almost as though she had just said that accidentally, like she didn't want Lena to know all about it. She had no choice now. “It's not Alex. It's, uh, it's Lucy, you remember her? I told you about her.”

Lena's heart dropped. This time ‘all’ of her confidence was gone. Maybe she really was just reading too much into this. Maybe they were really just fucking and she was just the only one in too deep. 

Of course, she remembered what Kara said about Lucy. She was Kara's best friend, she recalled. Whom Kara was in love with, but also dropped Kara right after she admitted her feelings for her. The reason why Kara never acted on her feelings for women since then.

'Oh, God,' Lena thought. What if Lucy realised she actually liked Kara back after all these years? What if they were getting together? Kara said Lucy would stay in her place. What does that even mean? Hell, when did they even start talking again? Based on Kara's story, they weren't exactly on good terms. 

This just made Lena realise that they really didn't know much about the other. Maybe her attraction was just a product of her imagination, maybe she was just lonely and Kara was there so she started thinking about it, maybe she was just attracted to the version of Kara in her head. It was ‘not’ real, yes, exactly: It wasn't.

She looked Kara in the eye, forcing a chuckle out. She knew everything Kara told her about Lucy, but she couldn't give Kara the satisfaction of knowing that she was paying that much attention. So, instead of showing how uncomfortable she really was with that, she shrugged it off and said instead, “Ah, yeah. I think I remember? Go, it's alright. I'll just call you next time, yeah?”

It was safe to say that she failed miserably. Only with Kara does she speak like a fucking teenager, couldn't even form her words properly, or couldn't even complete a proper thought. Damn, she was a mess. And she was also so, ‘so’ stupid. 

“I'm sorry,” Kara said, “I mean, I didn't plan to go here and do this tonight, I wanted time. I just—the text Andrea made me send? It put me on edge and suddenly I had to see you and address yesterday, which I guess we didn't exactly accomplish but—”

“It's okay, Kara,” she said, forcing a smile, tapping Kara on the shoulder ‘so casually’ that it made her want to cringe. “You don't have to explain yourself, remember?”

Saying those words has went from making her feel like they've got clear and proper boundaries to making her heart race to the point that it almost suffocated her. She hated it, she hated how neither of them owe the other anything. 

“But I do,” Kara said in this small voice that made Lena look up to her, only to check and make sure she wasn't crying, because she sounded like she was. “Lena I—”

“It's late, Kara,” she said, “Go, we'll talk about… whatever, next time.”

Kara looked hesitant, swallowing all her words, nodding regardless. She smiled, taking a step back. “See you, I guess?”

How did it go from awkward to fine to extremely comfortable to horny to ‘super’ awkward? Lena wasn't sure, but she knew it was her that was causing this much awkward tension. 

“Yep,” she said, giving one of those smiles she gives during a Gala's red carpet. She hated red carpets. 

Lena wanted to scream as she listened to the door closing. Once again, it was crazy how significantly your feelings could affect you after you acknowledge it. She wished she didn't start acknowledging it, because then it'd be easier. 

She sat on the couch, looking down to the pizza box that still had one slice, and to the half-empty glass of wine Kara was drinking. She cursed under her breath, looking around her place and realising that the place never felt as empty as it does as the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think. The feedbacks keep me going, like, okay, I need to write this! Lol. Love to all. 
> 
> — jach.   
> twitter.com/LGBTlTS


	19. 19: i thought we were just f-cking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advanced for the typos, if you spot some. This isn't as edited as the others but I know you'll enjoy this one! x

Lena felt like a fucking idiot. 

Maybe she was playing herself, maybe that was true. But at this rate, she couldn't care less. She took pride of being able to ignore Kara and not caring even if she hasn't seen her in over a week now. Somehow, it was making her feel like some lovesick teenager wanting to stay away from the person they like as soon as they could, thinking that being cold like that would save them for more heartbreaks. 

No, her heart wasn't broken, thank you very much!

However, Lena would be lying to herself if she'd say that she wasn't about ninety five percent affected. It wasn't a big deal, she only thought about Kara the moment she woke up in the morning, when she was on her way to work, when she was in the middle of a business meeting, when she was eating alone, and when she was about to sleep. It wasn't like she spent her entire day thinking of a certain Blonde. 

Except it ‘was’, she ‘does’ think about Kara that much and it was completely annoying and embarrassing. At first she felt bad when she started to ignore Kara's invitation to eat together (no come overs because the Lucy chick was staying at Kara's), but when Lena realised that Kara spent all of her time outside work with Lucy, it just sent Lena on edge. Like the “do whatever you want with your life, I don't care” type of on edge.

She couldn't bear the thought of Kara spending all her free time with someone else. But instead of trying to get Kara for herself, what she did was she acted like she didn't care. Now it has been exactly fourteen days. It was the longest they haven't spoken, and at this point Kara stopped trying to reach her. 

She shouldn't be angry at that because she brought that to herself… but of course, she was angry. 

It was the 21st of December, everyone already felt Christmas-sy aside from Lena. She hasn't even gone Christmas Shopping yet. Not that she needed to, because her friends weren't really big on those things. They didn't care about gifts. Normally, Lena would still push through and be extra, but this year, she just had zero energy. 

The Fight's athletes, crew, and friends were supposed to arrive today, party tomorrow night, then fight on Christmas eve. Lena had no plans to go to the party, not looking forward to seeing anyone there, but when she received some knocks on her door on the Night of the 21st, she had changed her mind. 

“Hey,” was the first thing Beth said. 

For a few moments, they just stood there, staring at each other like mad women. Which they probably were, Beth had this thing on High School when she used to refer to herself as Alice, with her rabbits and all those jazz. 

As Lena stared at Beth, she tried to remember what went down the last time she's seen her. She remembered there was a lot of fury and rage and disappointment, although she couldn't remember much of exactly what she said. This time, she tried to find those emotions but she just couldn't. She felt cold on her skin and she just wanted to hug one of her closest friends. 

And so that was what she did. 

And so they ate, laughed, and teased each other. But of course that was after Beth explained her side, apologising for her actions. Lena did the same, knowing they could've communicated better. It all ended up with Beth being curious about what Lena was up to these days, leading to her confessing her sins: The biggest one being Kara. 

She confided to Beth, all of it leading to what she already saw coming, Beth telling her to: “Communicate. Hear her out, maybe she feels the same?”

Beth was also the reason why she agreed to attend to the party hosted by Kate on the 22nd. Same place as before, with Charlie serving as the manager, and with The Smell performing later on the night. It was like a repetition of the first time she hooked up with Kara, it was crazy how much has changed in such a short period of time. Back then Kara was still a stranger to her, now she was everything but. 

Sam wouldn't be around this weekend but she'd be on the next one, said she would leave Ruby to her Brother, glad that the little one wasn't missing Alex all that much. 

This meant that she was glad she had Beth with her. At least she had one person, right?

Their hands were intertwined as they walked to the bar together, Lena's stomach bubbling with anxiety as she kept her eyes out for either Kate or Kara. In fact, she was more scared about seeing the latter, knowing damn well that if she was being honest, she stopped caring about Kate's mere existence since she met Kara. 

When they were about to step to the VIP lounge, she stopped, pulling Beth. “I can't do this.”

Beth looked back to her and as always, there was nothing but patience on her face. “Well then, let's go out.”

Lena rolled her eyes, “You're terrible at persuasion.”

“My support is an enough persuasion. Because you know I'd agree with whatever your decision is, you'd think it over by yourself, hence you would do what you really want to do with no influence from others,” Beth shrugged, wiggling her eyebrows. 

Lena laughed, grabbing Beth's hand again, “I hate you. Let's get this over with.”

Charlie and Zari were the first ones who greeted them as expected, leading them to all of Lena's friends. She felt relieved, seeing Sara, Ava, Nate, Ray, and Nora. However, it was short-lived when she realised Julia and Sophie were sat there too, the others not found yet. 

To say that the way she greeted them was awkward would be an understatement. She almost wanted the ground to open up and swallow her after she almost slipped when she went in to give Julia a kiss on the cheek. She knew she shouldn't be angry at either of these two, but to force her to be natural about this situation would be asking for too much. 

It didn't take long until Alex and Kelly joined them, asking if their friends has arrived already. The Older Danvers gave her a look, one she wasn't sure what meant, but Lena assumed it has something to do with Kara, realising there was nothing Kara could hide from her sister. God, what could Alex possibly know? Lena wasn't even sure what Kara thought of her at this point, given that she's ghosted her like that.

For a second she panicked, realising she's become the bad guy in this… whatever she and Kara had going on. It was late to run away though, and she cursed, she should've taken Beth's offer earlier. 

Winn was suddenly by her side, greeting her first whilst the others did the same to the rest. They were the same group of people who were also here months ago, but this time Lena was uncomfortable because of a completely different reason. 

And of course, she was the last one Kara and who she assumed as Lucy approached. The Blonde gave her just a nod, literally just a nod. Not even a handshake… maybe? No, that would be more awkward. Kara then proceeded to point to Lucy, “Lena, Lucy. Luce, Lena.”

She cleared her throat, allowing the other woman to engage her in a friendly hug. Lucy was smiling to her when they part, “I've heard so much about you! I asked Kara to introduce me to you but I guess you were busy?”

All Lena could do was to raise her eyebrows knowingly, trying her best not to focus on the image of Kara her peripheral vision kept showing her. “Yeah, I suppose I was. Lovely to meet you.”

Lena squeezed herself to the seat next to Sara after that, not wanting to sit next to Beth because she was across Kara and Lucy. She hated it, she hated how likeable Lucy was, now she understood what Sam felt towards Kelly. The conversation started smoothly, a glass of alcohol after an another, and so on. They were in the middle of a conversation when Kate finally came through, after roaming around the other tables first. She said she had to make sure she was being a kind host before sitting down with her people.

Lena wanted to gag, now she had nowhere else to look at but in front of her: Where the snuggling Zari and Charlie were. She had no choice, Kara and Lucy were on her left, and Kate was on her right. 

She could feel both of the ladies eyeing her. At first, she tried to not look so obvious whenever she looked back to Kara. But now she just gave up that she looked right in her eye, both of them drifting to their own worlds, the conversation from their friends completely disappearing on the background. 

That was until Nia addressed her directly with a laugh, “Yeah, we actually had a game night last night at Kara's. I expected Lena to be there.”

Lena looked away from Kara then, embarrassed that she didn't know what Nia was talking about. “Sorry, what?”

“We asked Kara to invite you, well of course we didn't need to because she'll do it herself,” Nia chuckled, “But she said you couldn't make it. What kept you? Is it L-Corp?”

She just stared at her. Kara did not ask her to join, but then again, why would she? She texted Lena everyday for the first ten days she started to ignore her. Of course, she was done by then. 

“She was with me,” Beth said to her aid, which was the truth after all, “We realised we haven't bonded much this year. Sorry for keeping her.”

Lena made eye contact with Alex then, the latter shooting her a knowing look that made her swallow. Okay, so, Kara's friends didn't know what was up, but they sure as hell were suspicious of something. 

It wasn't hard not to notice, considering how tied to the hip they were just last Thanksgiving. 

The conversation drifted off to something else again, that was until the vibe changed and everyone felt the need to stand and dance. Most of them left, and Lena kept looking at Kara, waiting if she would ask Lucy to dance but she didn't. 

Her attention shifted when someone took the seat next to her that Sara just vacated. She turned to it, seeing Kate smiling sheepishly. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Lena said, sounding more cheerful than she intended. Once again: The alcohol's fault. 

“So, we should talk,” Kate said, surprisingly keeping her distance enough for Lena not to push her off of her. 

“Maybe when we're sober,” Lena said, she couldn't care less about Kate, but maybe she has to hear that story… whatever it was. 

She looked back to where Kara and Lucy was, but now they were gone. She looked around frantically, eventually spotting them dancing just right in front of them, Kara looking straight to her direction. 

Lena held the eye contact, clenching her jaw until Kate nudged her. “You like Danvers?”

She almost jumped from her seat, now Kate was too close for comfort. She wiggled away, rolling her eyes, “If I do, it's none of your business.”

Kate chuckled, leaning back to her seat, “Don't worry. I figured that out since the day we had lunch with her. She's a catch, I mean… not your type so kinda surprising, but still a catch.”

“You don't get to comment about that,” Lena said through gritted teeth. She was over this, she wanted to go now. In order to do that, she had to find Beth so she stood, not noticing the person who was just about to lean down to approach her. 

She stopped on her tracks, realising she's almost in Kara's arms. She stood straight, for the first time in half a month, she was ‘this’ close again to the Blonde. The music was loud now but she could hear Kate excusing herself… or something like that. 

They stood here, close but without physical contact. It wasn't needed, their eyes spoke enough.

“Let's talk,” Kara said groggily, leaning in to Lena's ear. 

She didn't respond, she looked Kara in the eye before walking towards the hallways, just outside the VIP Lounge. Maybe it was the alcohol, but she wasn't nervous at all. At least not until it was just the two of them, either wanted to speak first. 

“Okay, let's get this over with,” Kara finally said, making Lena roll her eyes. 

“Want this to be quick to go back to Lucy already?”

At first, Kara looked pissed, making Lena just as angry, then Kara smirked, making Lena frown. “What's so funny?”

“You're jealous.”

“What—” she trailed off, “No!”

Kara chuckled, all trace of annoyance gone. “You're so, so jealous. I figured it out, really, that's why I allowed you to ghost me.”

“I did not—”

“You did,” Kara said, walking closer, “But don't you assume I'd let it go that easily. You don't think I could've just came over when you stopped responding? No, I didn't do that because I wanted you to sort your feelings out.”

“My— what? Kara—”

“See, this is why we can't have nice things,” Kara said, tucking some strands of Lena's hair behind her ear, “You always interrupt me or vice versa.”

Lena felt like she should be embarrassed that Kara could read her like this, but somehow she just ‘wanted’ to be angry and stubborn. “Okay, then. You got me, I ‘am’ jealous. Happy?”

Kara seemed shocked, probably not expecting Lena to admit it that easily. Lena huffed, “Is that what you want to hear? Yes, I was. I am. You enjoyed yourself too much knowing I'd come around being all jealous and stuff and you're gonna come to my face and laugh in front—”

She would say kissing her to shut her up was a low blow but she'd take it. It wasn't usual these days (aka when she started to realise she's got actual feelings for Kara) that she kissed her with such hunger. It seemed like one of the first kisses they shared, only this time there was an unspoken thing between them. 

They were both practically panting when they let go of each other, both just observing each other, waiting their turn to speak. 

“Lucy's just a friend. I've moved on from those teenage feelings years ago. I'm sorry if I made you jealous, if that's what you think I did,” Kara said, “For the record, no, that's not my intention. But I really, really just wanted to make sure if I was of any value to you. Not gonna lie, all of my texts and calls being ignored for ten days straight actually sting a little bit.”

Lena looked at her, a pout on her lips. “I'm sorry I did that. God, now looking back, it was such a dick move.”

Kara chuckled, “It really was, yeah.”

Silence surrounded them afterwards. It wasn't the anger that was roaming around anymore, it wasn't hunger for each other either, it was 'calm', Lena wasn't sure what to do with calm. She could feel herself getting smaller and smaller as she melted under Kara's simple touch and gaze. She was hot under it. With Kara, the simplest gesture could do so much effect on her. It was terrifying, but it was also very, very satisfying.

“Let me take you out on a date, a proper one,” Kara said, startling Lena, “Like, one that's labeled: Romantic date, for real this time… or something. No confusion because to be honest? We both suck on communication.”

For the first time, Lena laughed, “What makes you think we're in the same boat?”

The Blonde raised one eyebrow, “Aren't we?”

“I broke all my rules for you, what do you think?”

Kara's smirk only grew at that, hands snaking around Lena's waist. “I want you to say it.”

Lena's heart started to beat ‘even’ more faster, if that was even possible. The rush was back, to be honest it never left, it just kept on recharging inside her and now that she was back in Kara's arms, it was trying to break free all at once. 

She wasn't sure if she was ready to say it, but she knew this for two weeks now. Probably more. So with enough courage, she finally said it: “I like how you make me feel, I like how your hugs comfort me, I like how you hold my hand whenever you feel like I need it, I like how casual you are with me when we were with your friends, I like how I could be who I am with absolute no shame with you, I like your annoyingly gorgeous face, and I like… you.”

Kara was smirking at her and she was breathing heavily. For goodness sake! She did not intend to be cheesy but here she was. “I didn't plan to, you know that. I even made… rules. Stupid fucking rules that I, myself, couldn't care less about at this point. I'm not sure if I'm ready, but I'm sure that everything just ‘sucks’ when you're not around.”

The Blonde bit her bottom lip, caressing Lena's cheek, squeezing them jokingly. “You think my gorgeousness is annoying, huh?”

“Oh my God,” Lena laughed, slapping Kara's hands playfully, “That's what you got from that?”

Shrugging, Kara brought Lena's hand with hers, kissing them tenderly. When she looked up, the smirk was gone, it was replaced by this unsually serious Kara Danvers. 

“I like you too, I think you know by now,” she said, “You should've known long ago because I have for a while now,” she chuckled, licking her lips, “And I agree, let's take this completely slow. It's gonna be weird because we already passed the sleeping with each other part and we haven't gone to the first day yet.”

Lena chuckled, the smile on her face not going away as she watched Kara speak. “This isn't how either of used to doing it. Hell, I've never even dated a girl! But as you said, I'm also not sure if I'm ready but life ‘do’ suck without you sassing me off.”

She blew her a kiss, just right before leaning in but Kara stopped her. “Uh oh, one more thing…”

She frowned, watching as Kara distanced herself from her. She'd think Kara was going to say something serious, but the expression on her face was already saying the otherwise. 

“Don't ghost me again, for goodness sake!” Kara said, laughing.

Rolling her eyes, Lena threw herself to Kara, the Blonde catching her right away, kissing her just as hungrily as earlier. Her arms were around Kara's neck, her legs wrapped around her torso as Kara held her tightly, walking closer to the wall for support. The kiss lasted until both of them had to gasp for air. She gave Kara a cheeky grin, kissing her on the cheek one last time before jumping off of her. 

She winked, “I won't if you always kiss me like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to call this and the next chapter(s?) the calm before the storm. Thank you all so much for the lovely feedback! I want to finish this as soon as I can so I could carry on with my other fics. However, I feel like I've been so connected to these two in this Universe, it's making me indecisive. Lol. See you in two days! x
> 
> Song of the Chapter: Too Deep - Kehlani


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